From Domestic Science to STEM: 140 Years of Science at BSS

By Erica Frail

Imagine the challenge of a girls’ school evolving from the 19th century “cult of domesticity” to the high-tech demands of the world we live in today. Couple that with the changing role of women in society and you have some pretty big demands on the educators at BSS to keep pace with change.

As we embark on our 140th anniversary, a celebration of the incredible accomplishments at BSS, we can’t help but be impressed by the metamorphosis of our science program. Science has been a chameleon of sorts throughout our school’s history, camouflaging and concealing its tenets and objectives to coordinate with curricular demands during different periods. This program has undoubtedly weathered the many storms of evolving administrative policies in the midst of unpredictable and often unanticipated socio-cultural changes. It is, perhaps, one of the school’s most fundamentally altered programs.


At the turn of the 20th century, the women of the Dominion of Canada were generally discouraged from academic pursuits of any sort, much less those involving science. Very few young ladies could claim a space for their scholarly ambitions or an outlet for their intellectual curiosity. Opportunities for advancement in educational institutions and admission into the elite circles of the intelligentsia were limited, if not impossible, for most Canadian women. Such was the case right up until 1883 when the first such institution in Canada, Trinity College, Toronto, opened its doors and conferred degrees to women.

As a result, those small and scattered communities of educated women, although cultured and refi ned, could not boast a truly academic education in the way we typically understand it. Their studies embraced a more humanities-based approach to learning, merely skimming the surface of most disciplines. Educated women simply were not expected to extend their academic careers beyond the “finishing school” level.

The early mandate of BSS, also a product of the times, was indeed to prepare its charges for domestic vocations and family aspirations. The school prospectus from 1890-91 declared: “Its BSS’s] object is the practical training and instruction of young ladies in the various branches of a liberal education.” Contemporary curriculum was decidedly general, utilitarian and idealistic, even if considered progressive for the period. As outlined in the prospectus, depending upon their interests and intentions, students’ course of study might have included: Holy Scripture, liturgy and catechism, reading and elocution, grammar, composition, English literature, algebra, music, painting, Latin, French, German, ancient, mediaeval, modern and church history, and elementary science.

It is fascinating to note that late 19th-century science courses were basic introductions to the discipline. Students would, at most, acquaint themselves with rudimentary scientific concepts. While this might be symptomatic of the pioneering status of most scientific endeavours during this period, one can also assume that the nature of such courses directly reflected Victorian gender roles. Educators and administrators were not entirely certain that their female pupils would benefit from devoting their attention to a discipline that would not offer a practical outcome. After all, very few women entertained the prospect of careers that would involve a knowledge and understanding of science. Interestingly, BSS delivered the science curriculum through guest lectures from professors in “certain departments of science.” In light of the times, one can only imagine which departments these might have been.

By the early 20th century, the school’s educational philosophy evolved but did not dramatically change. In the Lower and Middle Schools, Nature Study and Botany were included in the new curriculum, while science branched into Astronomy, Physics, and chemistry in the Upper School. Students at the junior and intermediate levels explored the more natural and environmental aspects of science, which contemporary society would have deemed worthy scholarly inquiries for blossoming young ladies. Physics and chemistry, on the other hand, while available, were not necessarily promoted. These courses were offered as an option alongside German in the school prospectus. In fact, science was the only course to be preceded by an “or” in the course description.

Arguably more compelling was the contemporary “scientification” of domestic studies, perhaps to elevate its prestige and significance in the curriculum. Domesticity was not considered an art, but rather a science. Pupils in domestic science or scientific sewing classes participated in cooking, sewing, dressmaking, and laundering activities as one might expect; however, they also now examined the dynamics of physiology, nursing, dietetics, and the chemistry of foods, as applied to housewifery and motherhood. The new College Heights property was designed to include laboratories and “complete equipment” for household science, as well as chemistry and physics. By 1915, students were engaged in tactile learning experiments in the seemingly overarching, interdisciplinary realms of the budding science program.

Nonetheless, school prospectuses during these times stubbornly insisted that, “the main endeavour [was] to prepare the Pupils for the serious duties of life, as members or heads of families.” The administration clearly did not anticipate that its charges would be interested in the more academic aspects of the discipline, unless students aspired to qualify as future teachers.

By the 1930s, students could navigate two separate streams of curriculum: one path leading to university entrance and a potential career; and the other to domestic science and the establishment of a family. Early and mid-20th century studies in science typically supported the philosophy of managing a household scientifi cally, not the designing of careers in scientifi c fields. Science on its own was strictly optional in the course of study, while domestic science was a very obvious mandate.

The educational and curricular doctrines of BSS did not fundamentally change until the more transitional and transformative periods of the later 20th century. The feminist movement helped open the doors to female scholars and changed the cultural landscape. Prospectuses from the 1970s demanded the “Pursuit of Excellence in all Aspects of School Life” by nourishing the development of distinctly academic and intellectual skills: analysis, curiosity, independence, judgment, and problem solving. They also claimed it was the role of the school to “help [the student] to plan for post-secondary education and to choose a programme which [would] allow her to proceed towards her goal.”

Biology, physics, and chemistry were still optional courses, but home economics and household arts now also joined the ranks on the non-compulsory course of study list. It is also significant that the domestic science courses started to shed the skins of their scientific appendages in prospectuses, marking an official shift in the direction of school policies and curriculum.

By the latter decades of the 20th century, science and domestic science could be compared to “two ships passing in the night” as their spheres decreasingly overlapped in the curriculum and course of study. In 1983, Miss Ann E. Tottenham, former principal, announced the expansion and restructuring of the school’s science facilities. In a Bishop Strachan School Foundation Newsletter, she asserted: “Few would disagree with the idea that young women of the 1980s must be as well educated as their male counterparts. When BSS was founded in 1867, sciences played a very little part in a girl’s education. If we today are to carry out the founder’s purpose of providing a first-class education for girls, we must take fi rm steps to strengthen this crucial area in our curriculum.” Such a statement indicated that the school administration recognized and appreciated the growing importance of science in the postmodern curriculum.

Opportunities in scientific fields were opening for women by the year, thus it was the School’s responsibility to equip pupils with the necessary knowledge and skills to compete for those positions. The fruits of this realization included restructured laboratories, and the addition of a new general laboratory, preparatory rooms, proper storage space, and first-rate scientific and safety equipment. A fringe subject no longer, science finally basked in the limelight of the curricular centre stage.

One hundred and forty years since the inception of our school, a meaningful science program continues to accelerate in importance. Graduates of BSS increasingly focus their minds and energies on careers in science, as evidenced by the number of Old Girls excelling in these areas who are blazing the trail for others. This year’s Distinguished Old Girl, Dr. Joan WHITTEN Miller '76, is a prime example of this change of focus. Today’s students can explore their interests in a variety of challenging and stimulating courses, as well as extra-curricular activities such at the Robotics Club. The 2007 Strategic Plan has also targeted STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) as a primary focal point for the years ahead. As a school community, we actively promote, stimulate, and support our girls’ interests in science in the hopes that they will fearlessly enter this traditionally male-dominated domain.


Posted January 24, 2008 at 01:22pm






LEAVE A COMMENT






send this page to a friend   print this page