Uses of Animals and Alternatives in Pre-college Education in the United States: Need for Leadership on Educational Resources and Guidelines (original) (raw)
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Classroom Animals Provide More Than Just Science Education
Keeping classroom animals is a common practice in many classrooms. Their value for learning is often seen narrowly as the potential to involve children in learning biological science. They also provide opportunities for increased empathy, as well as socio-emotional development. Realization of their potential for enhancing primary children’s learning can be affected by many factors. This paper focuses on teachers’ perceptions of classroom animals, drawing on accounts and reflections provided by 19 participants located in an Australian primary school where each classroom kept an animal. This study aims to progress the conversation about classroom animals, the learning opportunities that they afford, and the issues they present. Phenomenographic analysis of data resulted in five categories of teachers’ perceptions of the affordances and constraints of keeping classroom animals. Herbert S & Lynch J 2017 (Online First, 25/02/2017), Classroom Animals Provide More Than Just Science Education, Science and Education, DOI 10.1007/s11191-017-9874-6 Online first: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11191-017-9874-6?wt\_mc=Internal.Event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst wt_mc=Internal.Event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst
Anatolian Journal of Education
The study aimed to explore Lower Secondary School curriculum of Life Sciences, in Morocco, to establish the current status of animal use and the extent at which it is a curriculum requirement for the introduction of the prescribed concepts and objectives. Two questionnaires were developed and administered to teachers and students to assess their attitudes towards animal use and dissection, as well as potential alternatives that could be used for replacement. The study revealed that several cited topics in the curriculum involve animal use and organ dissection. The majority of students (60.9%) and teachers (83.3%) had great interest in performing animal organ dissections, stating that it allowed better understanding, long-term knowledge and motivation. A proportion of participants felt negative emotions towards this practice. Many animals groups have been involved especially frogs and mammals. While most of teachers and students quoted that priority should be given to real hands-on experiments, alternatives preferred for replacement were videos and simulations. Animal use in education raises psychological, ethical, and environmental concerns. Hence, there is a need to use animal-free alternatives as they allow the achievement of the learning objectives more effectively and have several advantages over animal use.
A framework within which to determine how we should use animals in science education.
The scope of science is fundamentally to understand the natural (i.e., material, as opposed to aesthetic, moral, imaginary or other) domain. Since one of the more remarkable features of the Earth is the presence of millions of species of organisms, nearly 90 percent of them animals, one might imagine that animals would play a central role in school science education. But this is not the case. Biology curricula are heavily weighted towards humans, and inside and outside of school many students are now exposed to only a few non-human animal species. Here, I seek to provide a coherent framework within which we can consider how animals should be used in science education. To do this, I examine two main issues: (i) the purposes of science education, and (ii) an ethical analysis of how humans should use animals.
Multiple Evaluation Perspectives of the Animals in the Classroom Workshops
1991
The purpose of a study was to demonstrate the value of multiple evaluation perspectives in the development, implementation, and revision of a series of workshops conducted for inservice teachers. In the Animals in the Classroom Program, the content of the workshop concerned a highly charged issue: the appropriate and humane care and use of aninals in the precollege classroom and in student research. To evaluate the program's implementation and impact, qualitative and quantitative information were combined to capitalize on strengths and address the weaknesses of each source of data and converged on a comprehensive picture of the program, rlch in details about the participants' knowledge about the use of animals in education. With the assistance of the Advisory Committee, the workshop coordinator modified the content of the workshop to be appropri?tr., for classroom teachers. The resulting workshops were successful from several perspectives: (1) teachers rated them highly; (2) teachers' comments were very favorable; (3) teachers' knowledge snd classroom practices changed following their participation in the workshop; and (4) knowledge was gained on teachers' and students' attitudes toward animals. Comments from teachers corroborated quantitative results from the rating scales. Analysis of pre-and post-workshop classroom practices included both quantitative and open-ended questions that documented changes of practical significance in how animals were used in the classroom and in student research. The teachers' questionnaire is alp-ended. (KR)
Environmental discourses in science education, 2017
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2018
Using the human-animal bond, relational ecology, and the “common world” framework as theoretical underpinnings, I set out to better understand the array of settings and experiences wherein young children are able to interact, either directly or indirectly with animals within the context of early childhood environmental education (ECEE). There is opportunity within the discipline of ECEE to reflect on practice and means of supporting children’s engagements with and relations to non-human animals. This approach asserts children and animals as co-creators of children's learning and development. The relationships, nuances, and engagements between child and animal are themselves teachers (Taylor & Pacini-Ketchabaw, 2015). This has important implications as we move into a time where environmental connectedness and interspecies connectedness matter more than ever (Haraway, 2008; Kellert, 2012; Louv, 2007).
Classroom Pets in Primary School Education: Benefits and Welfare Concerns
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2022
Young children are intrinsically fascinated with animals from an early age and the role of animals in the life of children has been the focal point of many research articles in the last years, some of which focus primarily on the positive effects of human-animal interactions on child health and well-being. In line with the above, this article discusses the problem of keeping non-human animals as classroom pets in primary school settings. Some of the reported benefits of keeping live animals in the classroom are outlined, as well as the risks and welfare concern associated with such educational practices. The question whether animals are suitable for a classroom environment is specifically addressed in relation to animal welfare and, finally, some recommendations for future pedagogical practices are discussed.