Rittermere Farm Craft Studio Fonds, 1951-2006

During the 1950’s, the Rittenhouse family of Vineland in the Niagara Peninsula opened a craft store and studio. Within a short period of time, they realized that resources for the craft of rug hooking were in demand and they began to build their business around this niche. Edna Rittenhouse, the mother, was the wool dyer; Margaret Rowan, the daughter, was the pattern designer; Ted Rowan, the son-in-law, changed careers and became the manager of the family business. The 1960’s were a prosperous time, not only in the Niagara Peninsula, but also for the Rittenhouse business. Edna Rittenhouse had been hooking rugs for decades but she and her family worked at developing and sharing newer techniques with newer materials. Shading manuals were authored and published; students became teachers; creativity abounded in the demand for and the creation of new designs. Instead of using woolen yarn, they were using pure woolen fabric; instead of using a standard cutter, they began using a uniquely designed cutter; instead of using frames, they employed a table top method. The new material and technique resulted in a rug with a smooth, uniform texture and a soft nap. Since many crafters belonged to crafters guilds, Margaret and Ted Rowan began promoting the idea of a guild for rug hookers and in time the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild was also a reality. A joint project between Chatelaine magazine and the Rittermere studio for Canada’s centennial year of 1967 was extremely well received within the circle of hooking crafters and the Rittermere Farm Craft Studio became a North American landmark for crafters. From this point onward the studio had a large customer base not only in North America but also overseas. The studio remained popular until 1984 when Margaret and Ted Rowan decided to retire. The Rittermere name has been preserved in the name of Rittermere-Hurst-Field which is a similar business located in Aurora which is just north of Toronto.

Improving English as a Second Language (ESL) Pedagogy in One University in Ontario

In this paper, theoretical pedagogical approaches and practical pedagogical approaches are investigated by drawing on English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers’ pedagogical principles and practices, and ESL Chinese students’ second language acquisition and learning needs as they related to improving ESL pedagogy in one university ELP in Ontario. Three experienced ESL teachers were inquired by interviews and 30 ESL Chinese students were surveyed by questionnaires. Based on the mix-method exploratory research design, communicative, task-based, and content-based language teaching approaches are identified and discussed in the light of the interview and questionnaire data.

Postsecondary Artist Teachers' Responses to Computer Technology in Their Drawing Pedagogy

While the influence of computer technology has been widely studied in a variety of contexts, the drawing teaching studio is a particularly interesting context because of the juxtaposition of traditional medium and computer technology. For this study, 5 Canadian postsecondary teachers engaged in a 2-round Delphi interview process to discuss their responses to computer technology on their drawing pedagogy. Data sources included transcribed interviews. Findings indicated that artist teachers are both cautious to embrace and curious to explore appropriate use of computer technology on their drawing pedagogy. Artist teachers are both critical and optimistic about the influence of computer technology.