According to research, the academically gifted child may not have his/her educational needs met in a classroom with his/her age mates. This study was an investigation of the impact of mentorship on academically gifted students in an attempt to adjust curriculum to reflect what the identified gifted child i s ready to learn. There is little theoretically-based research on the impact of mentorship on children with advanced academic capabilities. It was hypothesized that academically gifted students who received individualized instruction from a mentor would show positive changes i n motivation and that this teaching approach would further enhance their academic proficiency. Learning satisfaction would also be a result of participation in a mentorship program. A multi-case study methodology was employed, including four identified gifted students. Replication of results across cases illustrates an overall improvement in academic competency and motivation. The children involved learned a great deal, evolved as motivated students and had a noticeable sense of satisfaction from participating in the program. Conclusions justify the need for curriculum modification for academically advanced children.

This study provides detailed accounts of the perspectives on teaching and learning experienced by the instructors and participants in three career exploration programs for women. One of the programs was located at a community college, one at a private college, and one was offered through a non-profit agency. The perspectives of the women are represented by each individual's expressed attitudes, feelings, and ideas about how they experienced teaching and learning. I also examine and relate the accounts of the women to the ways in which teaching processes and learning objectives were created, influenced, and/or constrained by the broader social and administrative context in which the programs take place. Therefore, the study addressed the following broad questions: (1) What values and attitudes toward teaching and learning are expressed by instructors and how do they shape the pedagogical interactions that take place in these career education programs? (2) What has been the participants' experience of learning in these programs? And, (3) In what ways does the social, institutional, and political context in which the programs take place affect the teaching/ learning environment? This study originates from my interest as a feminist educator to gain a greater understanding of how critical and feminist pedagogical approaches are manifested in actual practice, in this case, three particular career exploration programs. Information for the study was gathered from program instructors through semi-structured interviews; through an informal focus group in each program with volunteer students; and by reviewing relevant program related materials. After providing detailed accounts of the perspectives of the instructors, participants, and descriptions of each program, the external factors which create, influence, and constrain the nature of the programs, and the voices of the instructors and participants are explored in relation to the literature reviewed for the study. This analysis revealed that the instructors employed teaching approaches which are consistent with the values and aims of critical feminist pedagogy. However, teaching approaches were also applied which appear to reside within traditional educational approaches. Thus, in these particular contexts, the instructors created and acted within a teaching-learning environment which both reproduced and challenged the status quo. The methodological approach utilized in this study illustrated how adult educators concerned with the liberatory possibilities of adult education must invariably operationalize these ideas in complex, constrained, and often contradictory social sites which act to shape the possibilities of instruction. It did so by directing attention to both the social actors and the social and political processes that act to create and organize specific adult education activities.

Turbulence in the British Columbia education system encouraged Ministry and School District administrators to develop a holistic, formative evaluation process for school districts. Called the Information Profile System (IPS), the process was intended to assist district administrators with improvement of accountability, professional teamwork and commitment, decision making, and gain of public support for education. However, the literature also suggested that while formative evaluation holds great theoretical promise for administration, the practical results are often disappointing. Examination of a first pilot confirmed this viewpoint. The central problem of the study therefore became to ascertain whether the IPS could be refined and reformatted to act as an effective leader-substitute in British Columbia; for the literature on both administration and evaluation suggested that the IPS could be considered a "leader-substitute" evaluation process, a series of tasks, procedures, and processes intended to enhance leadership effectiveness through stakeholder involvement in evaluation. To solve the problem action research employing the IPS in evaluations of three school districts was conducted during the 1988-89 school year. Interviews of stakeholder participants in each district evaluation and other data were naturalistically evaluated in order to solve the main problem and three sub-problems: (1) how could the IPS be refined to improve the achievement of its goals; (2) what factors limited the IPS's effectiveness; and (3) what insights can be gathered into the leader-substitute construct of leadership? The IPS procedures and processes are described and critiqued in three district evaluation case studies. Meta-evaluation of the cases produced findings related to the restructuring of the IPS, its effectiveness, and the role of formative evaluation in administration. The research suggests that a substantially reconstituted IPS can assist administrators with accountability, but only marginally effect the other purposes envisaged for the evaluation unless ownership and follow-through amongst the larger community of stakeholders is developed. The research also suggests that senior administrator commitment, moral fibre, and management of meaning skills are major factors limiting the success of formative evaluation. Finally, the research suggests that the "leader-substitute" construct of leadership has some conceptual merit as a characterization of the IPS, and for the dynamics of leadership; a characterization commensurate with a "subjectivist", or "humanistic" view of administration. / Graduate

This study provides detailed accounts of the perspectives on teaching and learning experienced by the instructors and participants in three career exploration programs for women. One of the programs was located at a community college, one at a private college, and one was offered through a non-profit agency. The perspectives of the women are represented by each individual's expressed attitudes, feelings, and ideas about how they experienced teaching and learning. I also examine and relate the accounts of the women to the ways in which teaching processes and learning objectives were created, influenced, and/or constrained by the broader social and administrative context in which the programs take place. Therefore, the study addressed the following broad questions: (1) What values and attitudes toward teaching and learning are expressed by instructors and how do they shape the pedagogical interactions that take place in these career education programs? (2) What has been the participants' experience of learning in these programs? And, (3) In what ways does the social, institutional, and political context in which the programs take place affect the teaching/ learning environment? This study originates from my interest as a feminist educator to gain a greater understanding of how critical and feminist pedagogical approaches are manifested in actual practice, in this case, three particular career exploration programs. Information for the study was gathered from program instructors through semi-structured interviews; through an informal focus group in each program with volunteer students; and by reviewing relevant program related materials. After providing detailed accounts of the perspectives of the instructors, participants, and descriptions of each program, the external factors which create, influence, and constrain the nature of the programs, and the voices of the instructors and participants are explored in relation to the literature reviewed for the study. This analysis revealed that the instructors employed teaching approaches which are consistent with the values and aims of critical feminist pedagogy. However, teaching approaches were also applied which appear to reside within traditional educational approaches. Thus, in these particular contexts, the instructors created and acted within a teaching-learning environment which both reproduced and challenged the status quo. The methodological approach utilized in this study illustrated how adult educators concerned with the liberatory possibilities of adult education must invariably operationalize these ideas in complex, constrained, and often contradictory social sites which act to shape the possibilities of instruction. It did so by directing attention to both the social actors and the social and political processes that act to create and organize specific adult education activities. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Generations of Canadians are familiar with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's school radio broadcasts. Agreement between the CBC and the Ministry of Education ensured that the CBC provided the necessary technical arrangements required to air and distribute the broadcasts, while the Ministry of Education agreed to provide the creative component for the programs - script writers, actors and actresses, musicians, and others. The broadcasts came to include music, art, social studies, science, and language arts. This thesis examined the historical development of British Columbia school radio, the shape of the broadcasts themselves, and British Columbia teachers' experiences associated with school radio. This study also examined the experiences of CBC and Ministry of Education personnel who were involved in the production and distribution of British Columbia school radio. Interviews with British Columbia teachers who listened to the broadcasts from 1960-1982, and Ministry of Education and CBC employees whose work brought them in contact with the school radio broadcasts, provided the core evidence for this study. Ministry of Education and CBC employees provided the context for the interviews. Interviews, combined with the Ministry of Education Reports, enabled the re-creation of the experiences associated with British Columbia school radio. Although there were differences amongst classroom eachers' reactions to the programs, there were some striking similarities. On the whole, British Columbia teachers found school radio interesting, informative, and purposeful. School broadcasts allowed teachers a moment to 'catch their breath' when preparation time was not the norm. Interviews with CBC employees revealed more similarities than differences with respect to their experiences. They reported that the broadcasts provided British Columbia schools with educationally sound material. Although CBC personnel did not find the broadcasts professionally challenging, they had fond memories of their association with the programs. Ministry of Education employees interviewed reflected very different opinions relating to their experiences as script writers, producers, directors, performers, and others. Nonetheless, they provided valuable information as to how school broadcasts were put together for pupils and teachers. Changing instructional technology, which included the introduction of a visually stimulating medium such as television, the introduction of audio-visual equipment such as tape-recorders which enabled the delay of broadcasts, and the implementation of a restrictive CBC budget brought the British Columbia school broadcasts to an end in 1982. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

According to research, the academically gifted child may not have his/her educational needs met in a classroom with his/her age mates. This study was an investigation of the impact of mentorship on academically gifted students in an attempt to adjust curriculum to reflect what the identified gifted child i s ready to learn. There is little theoretically-based research on the impact of mentorship on children with advanced academic capabilities. It was hypothesized that academically gifted students who received individualized instruction from a mentor would show positive changes i n motivation and that this teaching approach would further enhance their academic proficiency. Learning satisfaction would also be a result of participation in a mentorship program. A multi-case study methodology was employed, including four identified gifted students. Replication of results across cases illustrates an overall improvement in academic competency and motivation. The children involved learned a great deal, evolved as motivated students and had a noticeable sense of satisfaction from participating in the program. Conclusions justify the need for curriculum modification for academically advanced children. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This study seeks to discover any significant differences among the participants of three types of educational programs at King Edward Senior Matriculation and Continuing Education Centre. Selected measurable characteristics of these post-secondary students are tested in order to investigate any differences among the participants at the Centre. The data chosen include various performance factors of continuing education participants. These characteristic factors of student behavior were coded for use in the key-sort cards, and tabulated for electronic processing and statistical analysis. The chi-square test and the "t" test were applied to the data to test for significant differences among the three types of participants in a post-secondary school. Relationships within groups and between groups were further tested by the Pearson product-moment coefficient of correlation using three selected factors: grade-point average, intelligence quotient, and final achievement. The null hypothesis was upheld in most instances, and evidence could not be found that any single factor tested other than final achievement contributed to distinguishing young adults on the basis of the educational measurements selected. Further research into other characteristics of adult learners might more clearly account for differences in academic performance. Of the three groups of participants which were analysed, the senior matriculation students were more distinct and had characteristics which were more singularly predictable when related to the criterion of success on a final examination than the interrupted program students or the grade XII students. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

That deafness is more than an organic handicap requiring training and education in special schools has been increasingly recognized in recent years. Modern approaches to care for the young deaf child stress the importance of (a) early diagnosis and (b) of pre-school auditory and speech training. It is also recognized (c) that the most influential forces in the emotional and social development of the child are his experiences in his own home during the first five or six years of his life. For these reasons, in newly-developed audiology centres and speech and hearing clinics throughout Britain, the United States, and Canada, social workers take part in a multi-professional team approach to meet the differential needs of individual children and parents. The present study is developed from the operations of the Speech and Hearing Clinic of the Health Centre for Children at the Vancouver General Hospital. The case records selected for study relate to all hearing handicapped pre-school children known to the Clinic and born in 1954 or 1955. Two separate rating scales were developed to make an assessment of (a) the child's emotional and social adjustment and (b) of parental and family strengths. These are compared at the time of (1) initial evaluation, and (2) after a period of two years making it possible to examine the influences which may promote or inhibit the healthy development of the young deaf child and have a bearing on his response to treatment. This is a first exploratory study of the areas significant for the social work contributions to the treatment process. Nevertheless there are sharp evidences of correlation between social environment, especially parent-child relationships and the emotional, social, and intellectual adjustment of the hearing-handicapped child. Effectiveness of treatment seems to depend to a considerable degree on parental attitudes and feelings toward the handicapped child. Parent education and guidance, and, if necessary the modification of parental attitudes is therefore an essential component in the overall treatment process. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The object of this study is to trace the development of the extension services offered by the University of British Columbia from its founding in 1915 until the end of the program year 1954-55. The first chapter summarizes some of the outstanding features of the history of adult education and more particularly of university extension as it has developed in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada. Chapter II describes the experience with extension activities at U.B.C. up to 1933, the year in which the Carnegie Corporation offered a grant which made It possible to expand these activities significantly. The important formative years between the offer of the grant and the appointment of a full-time director of extension activities in 1936 are dealt with in Chapter III. Chapters IV to VIII describe the various extension services offered by the University between 1936 and 1955. Chapter IV deals with Vocational Education; Chapter V with Evening Classes, Lectures and Credit Courses; Chapter VI with Social Education; Chapter VII with Fine Arts and Summer School; and Chapter VIII with Audio-Visual, Library and Radio Services. The final chapter summarizes the general development of the Extension Department and examines some of the factors influencing that development. There were two main problems involved in writing this study. The first of these was to acquire the factual information concerning the development of Extension services. This proved to be a difficult task because of the gaps in the records available. Correspondence and interviews with persons involved over the years and other means were used in order to gather this information. Some questions remain unanswered. The other problem was to identify and evaluate the relative importance of the various factors which have influenced the growth of the Extension program. An attempt has been made to do this especially in the second, third and last chapters. Some of these factors include: the desire for better public relations on the part of the University; the attitude of the University Presidents and others concerning the relative importance of extension work; the abilities, understanding and degree of commitment of the three directors of the Extension Department; the resources which were available at different times to develop aspects of the work (such as the Carnegie grant and the federal government funds for certain activities); economic and social Conditions in the province; and the characteristics of the staff employed by the Department since its creation in 1936. The attempt to trace and to understand the development of extension services at the University of British Columbia is felt to be of particular significance because the Extension program of this University became during this period one of the most outstanding in Canada. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

Little is known about the deaf as a group. Most of the studies that have been done concerning their problem have been about the medical, educational and psychological aspects of their disability with very little emphasis on their vocational and social problems and needs. The study began from two basic hypotheses: first, that there is a correlation between deafness and unemployment status, with a disproportionate number of the deaf being found in low status, low paying jobs, and secondly, that the deaf in British Columbia at the present time, are receiving a limited amount of services. The particular focus of the study was the problems and experience of a sample of young deaf adolescents and adults in training for, finding and holding jobs. The sample group chosen was the total group of graduates and school leavers from the Jericho Hill School for the Deaf, Vancouver, British Columbia, a residential School which takes pupils from all socio-economic levels, including day pupils, for the period July 1956-July 1965. A schedule of research questions was devised which included investigation of the following areas: (1) what vocational assessment, counselling and placement services were available to and utilized by the sample group (2) what jobs they obtained and how they obtained them (3) what their attitudes were to their jobs and fellow workers (4) what job aspirations they had and whether they attained them (5) what opinions they had about the kinds of help they needed (6) what their intelligence quotients were, as a crude index of their capabilities to cope with further training and education. A research design of a diagnostic descriptive type was next devised, which comprised a number of steps, including (1) the interviewing of experts in the field (2) the devising of a questionnaire to be sent to the school graduates (3) the interviewing of a sample of respondents willing to be interviewed (4) the relation of the insights and information obtained, to the determining of what services should be recommended in order to provide more adequate services for the deaf. Of the total group of 78 school leavers, 38 responded to the questionnaire of whom 14 were interviewed. Twenty-two of the 38 respondents were employed. The major findings of the study were that; the employed deaf in the sample group who have received no further education or training are working in low paid, low status jobs, regardless of the level of their intelligence or desires for further training. This is one-half of the total sample group. Of those who obtained vocational training including on-the-job training, it would be true to say that this did improve their economic status. However there is a tendency for this group to be frozen in bottom level positions with few prospects of advancements. Of the small group proceeding to advanced education at Gallaudet College, it is as yet too soon to say what their vocational prospects will be. An additional finding was that most job placement was done by families, friends and Jericho Hill School, with very little by community agencies. A lack of spacific services indispensable to the deaf, was found, particularly in relation to use of interpreters. A further finding was the "orality" of deaf people in the sample interviewed as defined by ability to use speech in everyday living at a level intelligible to strangers, was far below this standard, with one exception. An additional finding was that the inability to achieve a satisfactory level of orality appears to be related to feelings of failure and inferiority in the deaf and to interfere to some extent with the deaf person's concentration on the acquisition of written skills. There was considerable evidence that social and recreational activities play a specially important role in the lives of deaf people, and may even determine the location of the jobs they seek. As many are unable to enjoy an outlet for their frustrations and tensions by communicating orally with their fellow workers, it is important to them to be with other deaf people for some of their recreation, because with such a group they are released from the constant strain of lip reading or writing everything down. In contrast to the findings of two American studies, there was little, if any correlation found between such factors as type of job obtained and lip reading ability and preferred methods of communication used at work. Nor was there any correlation between these factors and income obtained, job stability and attitudes to the job and to fellow workers. Total or partial deafness, day or residential status did not appear to affect any of the factors mentioned either positively or negatively. This may have been due to the size of the sample group and two other factors, first, that almost all the group became deaf before the age when speech patterns are normally acquired, or were born deaf. Secondly, the sample contained no respondents in the managerial, technical or professional classes, and few in the craftsman class. A number of specific recommendations were made. Some of these pertained to the establishment of the necessary services, especially those of assessment, counselling, placement and follow-up services. Some pertained to an expansion of the roles of government and private agencies, and some pertained to educational practices in the field of education for the deaf. Special emphasis was placed on the improving of ways of determining much earlier in the education of the deaf child than is currently the practice the level of orality he is likely to reach, so that vocational and educational plans for him can be adapted to his needs. A further recommendation was that it is important to include in the educational programmes for parents of deaf children, opportunities to meet with the adult deaf. In the area of prevention, routine use of hearing tests for the newborn was emphasized. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate