Date of Award

2014

Publication Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Education

Keywords

education, gender, history, segregation, technical, vocational

Supervisor

Glassford, Larry

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

In June 1973, a series of contextual changes took their toll, ending the means by which W.D. Lowe Technical School (WDLTS, previously called Windsor-Walkerville Technical School) enriched Windsor's students for 50 years, marking the end of a unique kind of academic performance. Its story punctuated with external influences compounding to create a school culturally earmarked with the moniker `Lowe Tech'. However, while historical aspects of policy, attitudes, and pragmatic foci of technical schools have changed, the particular approach WDLTS had in building the technical and creative capacities of students have yet to be investigated. WDLTS offers compelling insights into the negotiated identity of technical education in reaction to the ebb and flow of funding, the local economy, school leadership and the recruitment and makeup of the student population. While macro elements such as legislative change and social context provide the backdrop for this investigation, the purpose of this study is to qualitatively examine one school at specific junctures in its history. This analysis will aid in a better understanding of how stand-alone technical schools changed and how those changes influenced students. This historical analysis, like other case studies, is important to situate the complex social dynamics that continue to affect the growth and development of educational opportunities for students who attend specialized schools serving marginalized students today.

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