This thesis is the first major attempt to document the accomplishments of Saskatchewan Women's Institutes - Saskatchewan's largest and longest surviving adult education movement for rural women which was known as the Association of Homemakers' Clubs of Saskatchewan prior to 1971. The purpose of the study ls threefold. The primary purpose is to make up for the lack of scholarly work on Saskatchewan Women's Institutes by documenting the organization's history as an adult education movement. A secondary purpose is to critically examine the relationship between SWI and the University which organized Homemakers' Clubs as a vehicle to provide extension services for rural women. The third purpose is to provide insight into the role rural women played in Saskatchewan's development. The study increases understanding about this important movement by documenting its growth and decline and its educational and other accomplishments from its establishment in 1911 to its 75th Anniversary in 1986. The University connection was crucial to the rise and transformation of the Rural Women's University, as the Association of Homemakers' Clubs of Saskatchewan was known, because of its close relationship to the University. Four distinct phases were identified. During the first two phases the number of clubs grew rapidly because the University employed staff to organize clubs and provide direction. Rural women were anxious to join these clubs because they provided much needed social contact and educational opportunities. Membership peaked during the third phase, but began to decline after 1941 because the University cutback the delivery of educational programs through the Clubs, and because it no longer employed staff to mobilize clubs. The fourth phase was characterized by continued cutbacks in University support and funding. This, combined with rural depopulation, improved transportation and communications networks, and other educational opportunities for rural women contributed to the gradual, but steady decline of members and clubs. An examination of club activities dispels the myth that SWI was merely a social club. Through Homemakers' Clubs rural women learned how to cope with their harsh environment and broadened their interests beyond the home. Homemakers' established libraries, community centres and health clinics which provided a foundation for governments to build on in later years. The University had a significant impact on the organization's activities, particularly its focus on education and the avoidance of political and controversial issues. It appears that the era of the "Rural Women's University" has come to an end in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Women's Institutes 75th Anniversary was celebrated in a serious state of deterioration. The majority of members were over 60 years of age, and prospects for attracting new members were not good. University support and direction in the early years encouraged SWI to become dependent and discouraged the development of strong leadership amongst members. The withdrawal of University support prevented SWI from developing and delivering quality educational programs that could have attracted young rural women. With a declining membership base, withdrawal of University support and uncertain core funding from the provincial Department of Agriculture it is unlikely that SWI will continue for much longer. Although there is still a need for a rural women's organization it appears that Saskatchewan Women's Institutes does not have the financial or human resources necessary to revitalize itself to meet the need.

There seemed to be an urgent need for the improvement of attitudes toward home experiences from the viewpoints of both homemaking teachers and homemaking pupils. Also, there appeared to be a need for the improvement of procedures used in planning, reporting, and evaluating home experiences. Because of these needs this study was made during the 1961-1962 school year in the Saint Jo High School, Saint Jo, Texas.

The purpose of this study is to further the effective utilization of films by developing an instrument for their selection from descriptions in catalogs.

The investigator attempted to measure the effectiveness of a specialized unit on personal development in improving the social adjustment of homemaking girls.

This thesis attempts to predict the success of homemaking teachers from interest and personality scores.

Currently, a great schism exists in the way that the law of financial provision treats cohabiting and married couples on relationship breakdown. Given that research consistently demonstrates that women are predominantly responsible for carrying out homemaking activities regardless of employment status, at the heart of this divide is the way that the law attributes value to this traditionally female role. In the married context, on divorce, breadwinning and homemaking contributions have equal value, yet in the cohabitation context only financial contributions are recognised, with homemaking having no value attributed to it. This polarised approach has received extensive criticism from the courts, the legal profession and the academic community, both for overvaluing domestic contributions in the married context and for ignoring or at best undervaluing them in the cohabitation context. Yet, despite the agreement over the inadequacies in this area, there is a lack of consensus over the direction that reform should take, and so far attempts have been slow and have often come to nothing, especially in the cohabitation context. Furthermore, feminist opinion is divided about whether financial recognition of domestic contributions in family law poses a threat to the financial autonomy of women, encouraging patriarchal financial dependence; or whether such developments redress a glaring inequality inherent in gendered roles freely chosen within the family. Consequently, this project uses the two very differing feminist positions of Ruth Deech and Martha Fineman who embody this divide as the lens through which to explore this dichotomous tension underlying the law in this area. To test out these two feminist stances, this project uses a range of doctrinal, feminist and empirical methodology, namely interviews with legal practitioners, to compare the approaches in New Zealand, Scotland and Queensland, Australia alongside England and Wales, where each jurisdiction differentially reflects a point on a spectrum between Deech and Fineman’s contrasting positions. This project also uses focus groups with members of the public in England and Wales to ascertain the affected communities’ views on these models of financial provision. Drawing on these results, this thesis shall consider how the law of financial provision in England and Wales should divide assets on relationship breakdown in the marriage, civil partnership and the same- and different-sex cohabiting context. Should it promote financial autonomy or should it offer greater protection to those who lead gendered lives in the private sphere?

The purpose of this study is to describe the effect of sociometric grouping on adolescents' concept of themselves in relation to society.

This investigation is to determine the extent of male participation in home economics courses in public schools. Related questionnaires were completed by participants and results tabulated. It was determined that the student's own interest, and their perception of how homemaking will help later are influencing factors for enrollment in homemaking classes. Food preparation, getting along with others, grooming, clothing selection and construction and using new equipment properly are areas of interest to male students. The belief that homemaking is for girls, and the lack of interest in the content and activities of homemaking classes account for the low male participation. Community understanding, friendly attitudes of counselors, a well equipped department, and practical homemaking courses could attract more male participation.

The problem of this research study was to identify the status of home visitations as a part of Vocational Homemaking Education in Texas as perceived by useful homemaking teachers. The study had a twofold purpose. The first was to develop and validate a survey instrument which would address specific concerns related to home visitations and which may be used as a model for future research studies in Vocational Education. The second was to survey a random sample of useful homemaking teachers in Texas to identify the perceived status of home visitations. Findings indicated that useful homemaking teachers believe home visitations should continue to be a part of homemaking programs, although they are not satisfied with the current status of home visits. The teachers did not perceive home visits as they now exist to be important to the total homemaking program and believed the program would be effective without home visits. Nevertheless, a majority of the homemaking teachers indicated that they would make home visits even if no conference period were provided for the purpose of visits and that they currently make home visits at times other than the designated visitation period. Approximately 40 per cent of the teachers reported they expected to visit only 25 per cent or less of their students by the end of the school year. Scheduling home visits was identified as the major difficulty by a very high percentage of the homemaking teachers.

The purpose of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of sociometric groupings in bringing about improved social status of rejected girls in eighth-grade homemaking classes. Specifically, the study seeks to answer to the questions: Do significant changes occur in personal and social adjustment when pupils are placed in groups according to their choice? Is there evidence of improved social status of rejected pupils when sociometric groupings are used throughout the year?