Fostering kinship with animals: animal portraiture in humane education (original) (raw)

Using Animal Portraiture to Activate Emotional Affect

Environment and Behavior

With growing concern for biodiversity loss, conservationists are faced with increased pressure to depict animals in ways that evoke empathy and lead to conservation. In recent years, conservation photographers have called on scientists to assist them in identifying the best ways to depict animals to elicit an emotional response. Collaborating with conservation photographers, we used an original survey experiment with 1,152 participants to answer this call by comparing how individuals respond to traditional wildlife photography and animal portraiture. Those who were exposed to animal portraits reported increased empathy and decreased positive and relaxed emotions. We engage critical anthropomorphism, arguing that it is an essential tool to encourage conservation efforts and that animal portraiture may be an ideal “attention grabber,” after which wildlife images can serve as “educators.” As the first study to make this quantitative comparison, our findings have important implications ...

An in-class, humane education program can improve young students' attitudes toward animals.

All 8 first-grade classes of an elementary school participated in a study of the efficacy of an in-class humane education program that incorporated regular visits from therapy animals. The study also investigated the relative efficacy of a popular, printed humane-education publication, although it was not possible to use this printed material in its optimal manner. The in-class humane-education program—but not the printed material—significantly increased students' self-reported attitudes toward nonhuman animals as compared to those of students who did not participate in the program. However, neither the in-class program nor the printed material affected student scores on another, self-report measure of interactions with one's nonhuman animal companions. Therefore, the results suggest that such an in-class approach can change young students' attitudes toward animals for the better; not surprisingly, actual interactions with one's pets may be somewhat less tractable. [ABSTRACT FROM ME]

Attitudes toward Animals: The Effect of Priming Thoughts of Human-Animal Similarities and Mortality Salience on the Evaluation of Companion Animals

Society & Animals, 2009

Human attitudes toward nonhuman animals are complex and quite contradictory. They can range between extremely negative (animal cruelty) to positive (treating companion animals like human surrogates). Attitudes toward animals are especially negative when people think about human creatureliness and personal mortality. This paper investigates people's attitudes toward highly valued animals (companion animals). The research presented here tested whether companion-animal caregivers would respond to reminders of human creatureliness and mortality salience (MS) with more negative attitudes toward pets. Participants completed an online survey in which MS and human-creatureliness conditions were manipulated. Results showed that, under MS, even pet owners responded to reminders of human creatureliness with less positive attitudes toward the average pet. Thus, the effects observed in previous research extend to more popular animals, even among people with presumably positive attitudes towa...

The Meaning of Animal Portraiture in a Museum Setting: Implications for Conservation

Organization & Environment, 2011

The authors document the changes in visitors' perceptions of animals after viewing an animal portraiture exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France. The exhibit consisted of 29 photographic prints, the participants were 50 visitors, and the instrument used was the Personal Meaning Map. Sixty-six percent of visitors changed, added, or deleted meaning to their perception of animals after viewing the animal portraits and a further 20% reported changes to the aggregate intensity of the pre-exhibit themes that they associated with the concept of "Animal." Pre-exhibit, the visitors thought about animals primarily in terms of "Nature" and "Wild/Free" creatures; whereas post-exhibit the visitors' meanings of "Animal" emphasized "Personality" and "Kinship. " The authors raise questions about today's prevalent approaches to the visual culture of animal representation in conservation and the conservation value of exposing people to animals in a captive setting.

Children’s attitudes towards animals: evidence from the RODENTIA project

Journal of Biological Education, 2011

The instructional use of animals is a popular strategy to engage students with science, enhance their motivation, and promote values such as respect, tolerance, and empathy for all living beings. Although these beneficial outcomes are widely acknowledged, research has not provided reliable indicators of their efficiency. Therefore, it is essential to broaden the studies focused on the use of animals

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...

Nonhuman animals and the future of environmental education: Empathy and new possibilities

The Journal of Environmental Education, 2019

Similar to other fields, environmental education has begun to embrace the significance of nonhuman animals. This essay examines developments in the natural sciences, particularly in the field of cognitive ethology, that focus on the concept of empathy as a paradigm for conceptualizing human/nonhuman animal relationships. Drawing on my own experience using this model of empathy in a course focused on animals, society, and education, I suggest ways that environmental education can incorporate these new understandings about nonhuman animal sentience, cognition and emotion into the field.

Animal encounters in environmental education research: responding to the" question of the animal

Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 2011

The “question of the animal” represents an area of emergent interest in the environmental education field, as researchers critically consider human-animal relations and animal advocacy in their work. Following a group discussion at the 10th Seminar in Health and Environmental Education Research, the authors of this paper share experiences, challenges, and insights related to disrupting the human/animal divide, conducting respectful research involving nonhuman animals, and producing research that moves ...

An Intersectional Approach to Teaching and Learning about Humans and Other Animals in Educational Contexts

Animals in environmental education: Interdisciplinary approaches to curriculum and pedagogy, 2018

Taking an intersectional approach to teaching and learning about animal-focused education, this chapter highlights pedagogical explorations of the entanglement of animal, environmental, and social justice issues. Reflecting on an online elective course, Animals in Education, designed for graduate students in education with diverse disciplinary backgrounds and professional experiences, this chapter zeroes in on three key matters: the possibilities and pitfalls of online learning; unpacking the hidden curriculum of human/animal relationships and engaging in intersectional analyses, for which critical food education is particularly illuminating; and the emotional dimensions of animal-focused education, including students attending to their own affective responses and probing the use of cartoons and graphic content in a pedagogy of discomfort.