A Study of the Effectiveness of the Homemaking Program at Pine Ridge Oglala Community School as Evidenced by Employed Graduates of 1956-1960, Their Homemaking Teachers and Their Employers--with Implications for Curriculum Revision

Curriculum planning, whether of the entire school or of one field alone, takes its direction from the philosophy of those who are directly involved with the program. The specific objectives set up within an area will be influenced by the needs of those to be educated and by the needs of society; the experiences used in achieving the objectives will be influenced by the resources available. Basic consideration for the teacher in curriculum building, then, are to think through her philosophy of education, to know the needs of society and the needs of the students and to be familiar with the resources available within the local situation. From this goal stems the necessity to appraise, evaluate and revise present homemaking curriculums at intervals in order that the program makes a worthy contribution in preparing individuals to meet the problems of life. To help girls assume happily and successfully their roles as employees in the competitive, demanding and ever changing society is of major importance. The purpose of this study was to have graduates of Pine Ridge High School who had taken at least two years of Homemaking, teachers of these graduates and employers evaluate the course offerings in Homemaking. This was done to determine the effectiveness of the program in the light of help and confidence given the girls in their roles as employees, to determine what should be included or deleted and to find where to place emphasis so that time could be used to best advantage and experiences made more profitable. It seemed desirable to obtain information from employers of graduates concerning the type of employment available, Homemaking’s contribution to successful employment and employer’s impressions of personal traits of employees