| The dissertation examines the normal school experience on the lives of women between 1885 and 1925. The place of the normal school and the normal school student in the overall history of women's education is discussed. Tempe Normal School is used as a case study because it accurately represents the western normal school of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The establishment and growth of the normal school and the academic and social life of women at Tempe Normal School are presented through manuscript collections, interviews, contemporary newspapers, government documents and secondary works.;Normal schools stressed the importance of educating women for the "social good" of the nation. They were established as utilitarian institutions; a vehicle for occupational and service - related learning. The findings of the study indicate, however, that women students at Tempe Normal did not always conform in the manner expected. They saw their normal education in much broader terms than simply preparation for teaching, marriage and motherhood.;Through both the formal learning of the classroom and the informal learning of campus life, normal students learned skills and gained knowledge that they would use far beyond the classroom. Learning became a life-long process. |
