Developing an adult homemaking course : textiles for homemakers

Graduation date: 1965Since World War II developments have taken place in the field\ud of textiles at such a rapid pace that the average homemaker is completely\ud confused by the choices she must make. A review of literature\ud revealed that through adult education classes an effort has been\ud made to help women with a variety of homemaking classes, including\ud many in the area of clothing construction. These classes have been\ud concerned primarily with construction of the article or the subject\ud matter of the course and little or nothing has been done about the\ud textiles used in these classes. Further literature reviews stated\ud that only five percent of the fabric for wearing apparel is used in\ud home sewing and that there is a need to help homemakers to be better\ud consumers of textiles of all kinds. Adult education classes were\ud one of the ways suggested to reach these women.\ud This study was made to find out what help women felt they\ud needed in the area of textiles; to find out if they would attend a textile\ud class if one was offered and to evaluate the class.\ud An Interest Finder was developed to determine what women\ud wanted included in a textile class. Before its use, the Interest Finder was checked by eleven home economists and one adult education\ud supervisor and a group of seven homemakers. The Interest Finder was\ud then distributed to women enrolled in adult homemaking classes in\ud Corvallis and Portland. One hundred and seventy-one Interest Finders\ud from Portland and 75 from Corvallis were returned in useable\ud form. The section concerning Course Preferences was tabulated for\ud the Corvallis respondents only because the class was to be taught in\ud Corvallis. This section indicated the course preferences of the women\ud according to their age, education and employment. The results\ud from the Interest Finder were used as a guide in planning the course,\ud Textiles for Homemakers .\ud The textile class was taught as a part of the Corvallis High\ud School Adult Education program and was held for four sessions.\ud Only seven people enrolled but their attendance at all meetings was\ud 100 percent. At the end of the series of lessons the class members\ud were asked to evaluate the textile class and give suggestions for\ud future classes. An evaluation was also obtained from a student\ud assistant, The Director of Adult Education and the instructor.\ud The results of the class evaluations, the information from the\ud Interest Finder and the recommendations found in a review of literature,\ud all showed a need for such a textile course. Textiles for\ud Homemakers appeared to be an important area of adult homemaking\ud education which has been neglected. Emphasis on methods of teaching\ud textiles should be included in teacher-education programs. From this study the following recommendations were made:\ud 1. Textiles for Homemakers should be given as a part of the adult\ud education program; 2. the Home Economics section of the Oregon\ud State Department of Education could help further the development of\ud this aspect of adult homemaking by offering in-service education\ud which would include technical background and methods of teaching\ud textiles for adults; and 3. adult homemaking classes in textiles\ud might be encouraged if kits of teaching materials and lists of audiovisual\ud aids were made available to adult homemaking teachers