This study focuses on the cognitive dimensions of two important aspects of the predator-livestock problem in British Columbia: the concrete coping strategies adopted by individual livestock producers and the institutional responses adopted by, or available to, the Provincial Wildlife Branch. The threat posed to domestic stock by wild predators is conceptualized as a biological hazard, and the advantages of this approach are discussed. A conceptual framework integrating theoretical insights from geography, social psychology, psychology, and political science is developed. Several hypotheses are derived from this framework, and a number of these are linked to form two conceptual models, one designed for an analysis of ranchers' cognitions, the other for the examination of nonranchers' cognitions. Both models relate several cognitive variables to the perceived acceptability of a number of lethal methods of wolf control. These variables include: ecological orientation (as measured by the New Environmental Paradigm Scale); attitudes towards wolves; and perceptions of the wolf threat. Two mail survey questionnaires were developed, one (Version A) for nonranchers, the other (Version B) for ranchers. Version A was satisfactorily completed by a total of 574 respondents: 259 from the city of Victoria; 95 from Williams Lake; 87 from Kamloops; and 133 from the Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society (NWWPS). The data from the three urban samples were combined to form a "general public" sample. Version B was completed by 283 ranchers. Questionnaire data were supplemented by the content analysis of several relevant documents and informal interviews with selected personnel from the B.C. Wildlife Branch, the ranching community, and a number of wildlife interest groups. A variety of statistical techniques, including simple correlation, multiple regression, analysis of covariance, and discriminant analysis, were used to analyze the data. The analyses provided strong support for most of the hypotheses. Several of the more important findings are noted here. For all three sample groups (general public, ranchers, and NWWPS), significant relationships were found between ecological orientation and attitudes towards wolves; between attitudes towards wolves and perceptions of the threat that wolves pose to individual cattle producers and the cattle industry as a whole; between attitudes towards wolves and the acceptability of certain lethal wolf control measures; and for nonranchers, between attitudes towards wolves and the perceived humaneness of lethal wolf control, and between the perceived humaneness of lethal wolf control and the acceptability of lethal wolf control. A number of variables exhibited significant differences across the groups: ecological orientation; attitudes towards woIves; and perceptions of the wolf, coyote, and bear threats. Several management implications suggested by the research are discussed and a number of policy recommendations and suggestions for further research are offered. / Graduate

Axinopsida serricata (Bivalvia) is abundant in coastal waters of British Columbia subjected to natural and anthropogenic disturbance. To investigate the monitoring potential of histological lesions, field populations were sampled in Holberg Inlet and Quatsino Sound, British Columbia, from benthic habitats affected by the submarine discharge of copper-mine tailings, and from a reference site in Mill Bay, Saanich Inlet. Based on a quantitative analysis of the digestive gland, ctenidia, kidney, gonad and stomach, the relationship between histological variation and site, size, season, sex and parasitism was explored. The relationship between occurrence of histological lesions in this species and further ecological consequences of mine-tailings discharge was also explored by comparing population characteristics of clams living in deposited tailings with clams from the reference site. Between-sample differences were observed in the structure of digestive tubule digestive cells, digestive ducts, ctenidial frontal cells, laterofrontal cells, and abfrontal mucocytes, kidney concretions, and stomach epithelial cells. The pattern of differences in tissue structure between samples reflected proximity of the collection site to the mine-tailings discharge and seasonally-dependent reproductive activity. Simultaneous examination of six of the tissue variables (using a principal components analysis) showed that clams collected from three stations in Lower Holberg Inlet which were in closer proximity to the tailings discharge pipe were distinguishable from clams collected from the reference site, upper Holberg Inlet, and Quatsino Sound. Tissue structural variability in A. serricata was not influenced by sex, or ectoparasitism by a flagellate. Tissue variables were not causally related to clam size (and thus of age and duration of exposure). In spite of the notorious natural plasticity of molluscan tissues, the variability can be partitioned to provide a very effective interpretation of exposure to stressors. Based on an increased abundance in degraded habitats, A. serricata, and the superfamily Lucinacea in general, have been described as r-selected or opportunistic species. An investigation of life-history traits showed that A. serricata has a maximum longevity of five years or longer, exhibits sporadic growth primarily in the summer months, and is an iteroparous, gonochoristic broadcast spawner with gamete release occurring primarily in November. The observed life span of the clam and presence of ova which are very large (maximum diameter is approximately 100 μm) and yolk-rich for a broadcast spawner are somewhat at odds with the contention that A. serricata is an r-selected species. Tissue variations which occurred in the digestive tubules and ctenidia with increased incidence and severity closer to the tailings discharge pipe are similar to histopathological effects in molluscs as described by others. However, there is no evidence that tissue lesions in A. serricata negatively affect fecundity, growth, or abundance. The sub-population sampled closest to the discharge pipe is in a state of decline, but this is due to the absence of recruitment since 1986, rather than increased mortality in the established population. The apparent decoupling of tissue-level and population-level effects may be due to a time lag in manifestation of decreased fitness at the population level, selection of stress-tolerant individuals in response to the stressor, a strategy of neglect of somatic maintenance and repair, or some other mechanism. It is possible that A. serricata and other small Thyasirids have an evolutionary history which provides pre-adaptation to environmental stressors. / Graduate

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

The start-up of the Community Development Workers' Initiative (CDWI) aims at formally beginning the process of re-establishing community development practice within British Columbia's Ministry of Social Services (MSS). This report's goals are to document the MSS Community Development Workers1 (CDWs) perceptions of their practice, challenges, and successes both outside of and within the MSS. These goals are carried out within the context of organizational change theories and models. This research was conducted approximately one year after the start-up of the CDWI. This is an explorative/descriptive study which garners CDW input from questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. These two measures were utilized in order to yield qualitative data. Qualitative methods and Rothman's framework (three modes of community organization) are employed to extrapolate major themes. The findings reveal that most CDW respondents report their practice to reflect one or more of the three models described in Rothman's framework. Underlining this trend, the selection of community organizational strategies usually appears to be driven by a process involving the community and their identified needs and interests. Documentation and discussion also include CDWI community work constructs, the obstacles faced by the respondents, CDW's perceptions of MSS' s needs and interests, and the sampled CDW's recommendations surrounding organizational change through the use of a community development approach. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The intention of this thesis project will be primarily focused on issues of the cemetery that involve its utilization as a vehicle to cultivate an awareness of heritage and its role in establishing a framework on which to promote the sense of communal identity in an authentic manner. For as many divergent societies that co-exist on earth there are equally as many diverse ritualistic patterns involving death and dying particular to each society. Although the study of these ritualistic patterns is an intriguing one, with regard to utilization of the cemetery as a vehicle to strengthen the identity of place, I believe, it is essential to accommodate and enrich already accepted notions of death and dying particular to Vancouver and Canada. As a consequence of the country's age, it seems that there is always the pressure to import character and values from other places. To begin to define an identity and therefore cultivate community there has to be acknowledgment and acceptance of heritage as an initial point of growth. For these reasons, rather than replace an already existing set of rituals with foreign ideologies surrounding death and dying, it is crucial that existing rituals not be discarded. The proposed site for this project is the Grandview Cut rail corridor that extends between the False Creek Flats and Grandview Woodlands in East Vancouver. Specifically, the site is situated between Clark Drive on the west and Slocan Drive on the east. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to investigate the views of British Columbia principals with regard to the formal evaluation of teaching. Four major concepts were addressed a) the purpose of evaluation; b) the process of evaluation; c) the need for further principal training in evaluation; and, d) obstacles to carrying out evaluation. The sex of principals and years of experience as a principal were identified for further analysis because these variables are absent in the literature on formal evaluation. The data consisted of relevant clauses from all 75 British Columbia school district collective agreements and responses to a survey sent to the members of the British Columbia Principals' and Vice-Principals' Association. The achieved sample is 188 principals. The findings of this study show the conduct of formal evaluation is a responsibility willingly accepted by principals and that it is a function they consider they carry out well. Collective agreements say little about the purpose of evaluation. The majority of principals believe the most important purpose of evaluation is teacher growth and development. Female principals indicate a stronger orientation towards teacher growth and development than males but this difference may also be related to principals' different experience levels. Relatively few evaluations are carried out and only a very small proportion result in "less than satisfactory" reports. Evaluations leading to "satisfactory" and "less than satisfactory" reports are characterised in very different terms by principals. Anecdotal responses support the assertion made in the literature that principals believe they already know who their 'weak' teachers are before conducting an evaluation. British Columbia principals consider time as the primary obstacle to carrying out formal evaluation. Evaluation cycles and site management responsibilities are perceived as the major time consumers. Neither size of staff nor percentage of teaching time were identified as significant time barriers by the respondents. Principals do not label themselves as under-trained for the responsibility of formal evaluator of teaching. Moreover, master's specialty and previous training are not linked to further training needs nor to how well principals believe they do evaluation. Three policy recommendations emerge from this study: (1) to re-assess the role of principal as evaluator in the light of their wider responsibilities; (2) to consider extending the role of formal evaluator to educators other than school-based administrators; and (3) to re-assess the value of formal evaluation as currently practised. / Education, Faculty of / 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

Both the use of and jurisdiction over fisheries resources is an important issue for many First Nations in British Columbia. Historically, fish played an important spiritual, social and economic role in numerous Aboriginal societies. These societies had various methods of managing the resource and, although they had the technological capacity to over-exploit the fisheries, they were able to maintain sustainable levels of fish. Following contact with European settlers, Aboriginal fishers were initially able to continue their traditional methods of fishing as well as expand their use of the fisheries through trade with non- Aboriginals. However, with the opening of the canneries on the coast the fisheries grew in economic importance to non-Aboriginal fishers and management of the resource was gradually but systematically taken over by the state, with various ideologies being used to justify the take-over. Aboriginal fishers lost not only their control over management of the resource, but also their ability to use it as extensively as they once had. Over the years, Aboriginal participation in both the food and commercial fisheries has declined although various government-sponsored programs have been initiated to attempt, with only partial success, to remedy this problem. In the meantime, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has been battling other problems in the commercial fisheries, including over-capitalization of the fleet and depletion of fish stocks. Management of salmon in particular, because it is an anadromous species which travels through several different jurisdictions, has become extremely complex. It is in this context that much litigation over Aboriginal fishing has been launched. Only a few of the issues have been clarified by the judgments which have resulted and certain myths and ideologies have surfaced repeatedly in many of the decisions. It is likely that the recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada on Aboriginal commercial and management rights will result in increased complexity and political controversy. However, problems of fisheries management, including the accommodation of Aboriginal interests, is not unique to British Columbia or even Canada. Similar problems have been experienced elsewhere in the world and various types of co-management regimes have been established in various jurisdictions in an attempt to deal with some of these issues and to recognize a greater role for Aboriginal fishers and communities in fisheries management. It is not clear whether, and to what extent, comanagement will be adopted in British Columbia, or what the role of Aboriginal fishers might be in such a regime. Even if co-management is established, it is highly probable that the state's underlying regulatory regime will remain intact. However, co-management may result in increased Aboriginal participation in both the use and management of the resource. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

No description available.

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