Statement of Process

1. How did you choose your topic?  Please explain in as much detail as possible.

I have always been interested in the societal differences between men and women, and I believe that these differences begin with how we teach children to think about their gender. I believe that girls should not need to be told that they can “do anything a boy can do” because they shouldn’t think anything different to begin with. I chose my topic because I wanted to examine the different ways girls have been taught differently than boys in the Canadian history of education. I also wanted to compare how girls were taught in the past, to how they are taught today.

I had originally wanted to examine the history of French Immersion programs in Canada, as I was enrolled in French Immersion a child. However, I found it too challenging to find relevant sources related to the history of the program, rather than just research done on the effectiveness of the program.

2. How did you choose your sources?  Please explain your thinking that led you to choose the evidence you will use to interpret the topic.

I used the TRU library website to find the majority of my sources. I looked for articles and books that talked about specific educational programs for girls from the 1850s until today. Home economics was of particular interest, as it traditionally was meant for girls. I’m not sure if boys were specifically forbidden from taking home economics, but I believe they were designed with the purpose of teaching girls how to become housewives and mothers. As for primary sources, I chose sources that exemplified the thinking of the time in regards to girls education. I also chose to use statistical data to illustrate the real world effects of girls education, and how statistics changed over time in relation to changing girls curriculum.

3. What assumptions did you bring to your research?  For example, what preconceived notions about the topic did you have before you began your research?  Did your sources cause you to reconsider those ideas?  Please explain in as much detail as possible.

I came into this research project with the preconceived notion that girls and boys had been taught different things in school, since the early days of public schooling.  The sources I have discovered have confirmed these suspicions. However, it was harder than I expected to find sources that implicitly stated that home economics classes were meant for girls. While it was very obviously implied, the sources did not always state it outright.

4. How has your view of the past changed as a result of the research that you have done?  What unanswered questions about this topic do you still have?

My view on this topic has not changed significantly, but it does make me more curious about the specific curriculums of home economics classes throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. I am also curious about the ramifications of the dwindling popularity of home economics classes. It seems as though rather than altering the curriculum to include both boys and girls, and create both men and women who are capable of running a successful household, we have simply taken these “household management” classes out of the curriculum. In one of the articles I discovered, it discussed how the lack of nutrition classes affects the health of adults, as school may be the only place they might learn about proper nutrition.

5. What will you do differently next time?

I would have liked to have tracked down more primary sources – specifically old home economics text books. My grandma used to have one from the 1940s that would have been very relevant to my research. If I were to continue with this research, I would try to find these older textbooks in garage sales or on eBay.