The Use of Animals in Higher Education: Problems, Alternatives, and Recommendations (original) (raw)
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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.
The lure of The Animal: The question of the nonhuman animal for educational theory and research
Critical theory in education has exposed many oppressive features of contemporary society. However, the literature remains fixed on the human experience, despite the fact that the representations of nonhuman animals provide a rich context in which to explore ideology, power, and what Michel Foucault called regimes of truth. In this paper, the author brings forth animal studies, an interdisciplinary approach to theorizing nonhuman animals in our society. The author provides a brief summary of the animal studies scholarship that has implications for educational theory: anthropomorphism, the representation of nonhumans, and speciesism. The author demonstrates the discursive construction of nonhumans is riddled with assumptions based upon Enlightenment notions of empirical science and rationality that expose our representational practices and has implications for how we represent Other humans. He ends with examining Deleuze and Guattari’s becoming-animal and argues that this can be a location in which we can begin to challenge the human/nonhuman binary.
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.
Education for Total Liberation: Critical Animal Pedagogy and Teaching against Speciesism
Educational Studies, 2019
Education for Total Liberation: Critical Animal Pedagogy and Teaching against Speciesism is a collection of articles showing how critical animal studies scholars have addressed animal liberation and interconnecting issues of oppression with a diverse range of tactics. The book is a welcome addition to the field of education research, which despite a growing interest in human-animal relations, animal rights, environmental sustainability and social justice, has yet to sufficiently bridge the gap between theory and practice, and has often failed to address speciesism and interconnecting issues of oppression (see e.g. Spannring, 2017; Pedersen, 2010; Martusewicz, Edmundson, & Lupinacci, 2015). This is where critical animal studies (CAS) can offer an "important starting point for organizing around social justice, since it includes speciesism within its intersectional understanding" (p. 5). The diverse collection of articles fall under the praxis of critical animal pedagogies, which aims to demonstrate "what education can be if humans are not the center of focus and understood as superior" (p. 6). Given the time we are living in, transforming education into a space where critical voices are heard and new perspectives are welcome is a necessary feat. The book aims to serve as "a springboard for how to develop further ideas on intersectional organizing or more practically engaged education" (p. 10) to advance liberation, critically address anthropocentrism and attack "the oppression that solidifies itself through a form of liberal humanism" (p. 6). Central to CAS is that theory be tied to action and the premise of the book is to offer examples of CAP in practice. The articles demonstrate how speciesism and animal exploitation are often normalized and overlooked in educational contexts and how the authors have tackled the shortcomings found in their respective educational contexts. The
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
Representing AnimalOthers in Educational Research
Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 2011
This paper encourages environmental and humane education scholars to consider the ethical implications of how nonhuman animals are represented in research. I argue that research representations of animals can work to either break down processes of “othering,” or reinforce them. I explore various options for representing other animals, including concrete examples demonstrating some researchers’ methodological and representation choices (including my own). Finally, I consider questions pertaining to evaluating the quality and effectiveness of alternative and less common forms of representation. Resume Le present article encourage les universitaires œuvrant en education environnementale et humaine a se pencher sur les implications ethiques des differentes facons de representer les animaux non humains en recherche. J’avance que les representations des animaux en recherche peuvent soit diminuer les processus d’« alienation », soit les renforcer. J’examine diverses options de representati...
Environmental discourses in science education, 2017
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