The Contested Space of Animals in Education: A Response to the "Animal Turn" in Education for Sustainable Development (original) (raw)
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This paper contributes to the debate about the absence of nonhuman animals in environmental and sustainable education (ESE) and the challenge of the anthropocentric characterisation of European education. Relating to the debate about a pluralistic approach in ESE as a ‘one-species only pluralism’, we draw on Val Plumwood’s ecofeministic dialogical interspecies ethics and Rosi Braidotti’s understanding of a posthuman/nomadic subjectivity. By regarding ‘difference’ as a constituting force, we present a ‘critical pluralistic’ approach to human-animal relationships in ESE. Instead of drawing new lines of moral consideration for nonhuman beings, an ethical and political appreciation of what nonhuman others can do in ESE is suggested. Recommendations for educational practice are to recognise nonhuman agency to reveal political and ethical dimensions, recognise the agency of non-living animals and stay in conflicts and ‘study up’ and develop an immanent critique, which could lead to alternative pedagogical approaches to human-animal relationships in different cross-curricula settings.
A posthuman approach to human-animal relationships: advocating critical pluralism
Environmental Education Research
This paper contributes to the debate about the absence of nonhuman animals (The term 'nonhuman animal' is used to emphasise the interconnection with the human being, viewed as a human animal. Using this terminology does not avoid a homogenising, stereotyping and simplifying of a multiplicity of animal (and human) beings. Nonetheless, we think that such a 'simplification' of concepts is inescapable in academic discussions concerning humans and nonhuman animals.) in environmental and sustainable education (ESE) and the challenge of the anthropocentric characterisation of European education.
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
Human–animal relations beyond the zoo: the quest for a more inclusive sustainability education
Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 2015
This paper investigates human-animal relations in sustainability education. To understand what educational relationships and boundaries are challenged and/or strengthened in education promoting future sustainable societies, we argue that educational theory and practice must move beyond the anthropocentric framework's sole focus on relationships between humans. Drawing on focus group interviews with teacher instructors at eight Swedish universities, we discuss cases in which sustainability education benefits from being understood as crafted via human-nonhuman relations. By concentrating on human-animal relations, we discuss the political and ethical implications arising from relationships being created in certain ways and not others. The empirical examples illustrate how the relations between teacher instructors and various animals can be a critical starting point for understanding the limitations and possibilities fostered by sustainability education.
Educational Studies, 2019
Education for Total Liberation 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. 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” (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. This article evaluates the key arguments of the book and offers suggestions for moving forward with critical animal pedagogies.
While the original objective of environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) acquired an awareness of the natural world and its current plight, animal welfare (AW), animal rights (AR), and deep ecology (DE) have often been absent within EE and ESD. AW and AR focus their attention on individual animals, while the DE perspective recognizes the intrinsic value of the environment. In this article, we shall discuss how the integration of these three approaches within EE/ESD can and should be improved, with particular reference to the ethical underpinnings of educational scholarship and practice. This article will argue that these three positions are well placed to enhance the democratic practices of EE/ESD through the adoption of an inclusive pluralism that embraces representation of non-human species and recognizes their interests.
It is urgent that we assume the duty of fighting for the fundamental ethical principles, like respect for the life of human beings, the life of other animals, the life of birds, the life of rivers and forests. I do not believe in love between men and women, between human beings, if we are not able to love the world. Ecology takes on fundamental importance at the end of the century. It has to be present in any radical, critical or liberationist educational practice. For this reason, it seems to me a lamentable contradiction to engage in progressive, revolutionary discourse and have a practice which negates life. A practice which pollutes the sea, the water, the fields, devastates the forests, destroys the trees, threatens the birds and animals, does violence to the mountains, the cities, to our cultural and historical memories. -Paulo Freire 1
Where are the Animals in Environmental Education Curricula? A Discursive Analysis
Although the Environmental Education curriculum would seem to be one of the most obvious places where junior high students (7th-9th graders) learn about animals, a discourse analysis of the program of studies demonstrates that learning objectives are largely anthropocentric. There are three main areas that could be further developed in the Alberta Learning Environmental Education curriculum: discussions about non-human animals, how food choice impacts the environment, and the ethics surrounding human communities when environments are destroyed. This analysis calls into question the broader implications of Western systems of schooling that are still highly influenced by a scientific and industrial paradigm.
Education for sustainable development (ESD) as if environment really mattered
This article discusses the possibility of integrating deep ecology (DE) and animal rights (AR) perspectives within environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD). The focus of this article is on three questions: why are DE and AR not currently central to EE/ESD debates? What is the probability that DE and AR will be central within EE/ESD? What can be gained if they were? Different ethical frameworks in relation to non-humans are examined. Both non-consequentialist and utilitarian approaches suggest that DE and AR could be linked to the conception of underlying duty as well as consideration of utilitarian value. From cultural relativism and subjectivism perspectives, DE and AR could be central to EE, but this possibility is contingent on socio-political and cultural context within which educational practices are embedded.
Are some animals more equal than others? Animal Rights and Deep Ecology in environmental education
This article focuses on the role of ethical perspectives such as deep ecology and animal rights in relation to environmental education, arguing that such perspectives are well-placed to reposition students as responsible planetary citizens. We focus on the linkage between non-consequentialism, animal rights, and deep ecology in an educational context and discuss the broader issue of ethics in education. Finally, we discuss how the inclusion of deep ecology and animal rights perspectives would improve current environmental education programs by deepening the respect for non-humans and their inclusion in the ethical community.