Soil and sediment-based cultural records and The Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site buffer zones

The designation of World Heritage Sites (WHS) by UNESCO is the principal international and formally recognised strategy allowing the conservation of sites of outstanding cultural value throughout the world. This study demonstrates that soils and sediments influenced by cultural activities retain cultural records (soils and sediments-based cultural records, hereafter abbreviated to SSBCR) associated with WHS, and further the understanding and contribute to the cultural value of WHS. Considering The Heart of Neolithic Orkney WHS and its surrounding landscape as the study location, systematic fieldwork is combined with geoarchaeological analyses including soil organic matter content, pH, particle size distribution, phosphorus concentration, soil magnetism and thin section micromorphology to determine the nature of the SSBCR. Chronologies of the formation of SSBCR and of palaeo-environmental records were ascertained using radiocarbon analyses and optically stimulated luminescence analysis. Findings of particular importance to the interpretation of the WHS are the identification of a Late Neolithic SSBCR located between the WHS monuments. This SSBCR is a valuable cultural record of a specific Late Neolithic community and provides significant insight into the interaction between settlement and ritual aspects of the Orcadian Late Neolithic. An understanding of these interactions is of crucial importance to a fuller interpretation of the WHS and to the wider discussion of the Orcadian Neolithic. The implications of this research to other WHS designated for their cultural value are discussed, together with future conservation considerations for this specific WHS

Leadership Strategies for Adapting to Changes in Ontario Colleges: Tensions, Dilemmas, and Opportunities for Continuing Education Deans/Administrative Leaders

This exploratory case study explores unique leadership challenges facing Ontario college Continuing Education leaders as they navigate institutional responses to contemporary changes in the higher education landscape. Nine Ontario college deans/administrative leaders participated in semi-structured interviews that were analyzed using a modified version of constant comparative analysis. Adopting the theoretical perspectives of sensemaking and identity from an Interpretive stance, the analysis leads to the presentation of a conceptual model that represents the interpretation of these leaders’ experiences. The conceptual model that emerged from this study adopts the position that sensemaking resolves identity ambiguities and is triggered by leadership challenges. These leaders’ identities demonstrate passionate advocacy for lifelong learning; a commitment to serving their students, their communities and their teams; and a connection to provincial colleagues that counteracts a perception of local isolation. Furthermore, participants’ leadership challenges include experiences of complexity, constant change, and varying degrees of institutional marginalization. Finally, despite commonalities of identity construction and leadership challenges, there is diversity in these leaders’ approaches to their roles, as narrated in their interviews and subsequently interpreted as distinct metaphorical cameos. The study findings suggest a similarity that Continuing Education leaders may have with a “reframing” model for approaching leadership challenges in higher education. This study contributes to the field of Educational Leadership, and presents an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities that Continuing Education leaders in Ontario colleges encounter. Recommendations suggest future research that may further develop an even deeper understanding of sensemaking phenomena as applied to leadership in the higher education setting

“Soldiers of Industry”: Women in the Canadian Labour Force, 1939-1951

The following paper is a study of the impact of World War II on Canadian women’s participation in the labour force between 1939 and 1951. The role which women played in the Canadian labour force prior to the outbreak of the war is discussed, as well as women’s experiences during the war years and the immediate postwar period. The paper demonstrates that, far from having the emanicipating effect which one might expect, women’s wartime experiences had relatively little lasting impact on their position in the labour force during the postwar period. The King government regarded women’s increased involvement in the labour force as a response to the extraordinary conditions of war, and introduced measures to facilitate women’s employment solely within the context of the war effort. The government’s traditional attitudes towards women’s proper roles in society and the work force are illustrated by its policies of selective recruitment of women workers, beginning with single women and turning to married women only when labour shortages were most severe. The speed with which the government cancelled measures such as the day nurseries program following the war also supports this argument, as does the fate of the government sponsored Report on the Postwar Problems of Women. An examination of the popular press during this period generally reveals its support for the government’s conservative attitudes towards women#&8217;s roles, an opinion which the Canadian public seems to have shared. The number of women in the labour force declined rapidly after the war, and they remained concentrated in the same limited number of traditional job they had held before the war. Only the tremendous increase in the number of married women workers during this period suggests that women’s wartime experiences might have laid the groundwork for future changes in women’s participation in the labour force

Correlating Student Mathematics Diagnostic Testing and High School Mathematics Grades with Performance in the Fanshawe College Pre-Health Science Program

A diagnostic mathematics test has been administered to incoming Fanshawe College Pre-Health Science (PHS) students for many years. A perception that this test was a good predictor of incoming students’ success in the PHS mathematics curriculum has traditionally been the basis for justifying the necessity of this test. In addition, the PHS program required students to have completed Grade 11 University, Grade 11 University/College, Grade 12 University or Grade 12 College level math upon completing high school. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between mathematics diagnostic test scores and final grades in all PHS courses, as well as overall grade point average (GPA) in the PHS program. It also aimed to evaluate the relationship between each high school math course and the associated high school math grades with performance in the PHS program. The study used histogram, bar graph and relative frequency analyses; Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficients at a 5% level of significance ( = 0.05); and a Kruskal-Wallis One Way Analysis of Variance on Ranks followed by all pairwise multiple comparison procedures (Dunn’s Method) at = 0.05. From a statistical standpoint, the diagnostic mathematics test alone was not a clear predictor of a student’s performance in the PHS program. Students who had taken Grade 12 Mathematics for College and Apprenticeship (MAP4C) in high school showed significantly different PHS GPAs ( = 0.05) than students who had taken other high school math courses. Also, some important trends existed that may aid PHS program staff in identifying students at risk, such as a highly right-skewed distribution of student diagnostic test scores, high PHS semester 1 math failure rates for students scoring below 41% on the diagnostic test, and high PHS semester 1 math failure/withdrawal rates for students scoring very high or very low on the diagnostic test. The study recommends using a combination of student diagnostic mathematics test scores and high school courses taken to identify students at risk and to provide appropriate support for these students

Consuming Rituals: New Approaches to the Quotidian

This thesis and accompanying exhibition examine the rituals associated with food preparation and consumption. Meals always have been, and always will be, essential to human existence, both physically and culturally, which makes them a rich area not only for research, but also experimentation. Of the nine interdisciplinary artists in the associated group exhibition Consumed, some present newly imagined rituals, while others highlight rituals that are subconscious or overlooked. Whereas food has been incorporated into artistic practices for decades, this project is focused on the rituals associated with food. Due to the performative and repetitive nature of these rituals, the artworks in Consumed are instruction-based. The exhibition presents visitors with the opportunity to enact the artists’ instructions in a show of participatory aesthetics. This thesis achieves a new understanding of mealtime rituals’ nuanced complexities, and suggests contemporary approaches to eating could benefit from renewed attention to mindfulness and meaningful social connection