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PurposeThis paper addresses two main questions: What is taught about animal ethics in primary school and how. Are these messages challenged by the students and, in that case, how and why? This is discussed in the light of Critical Animal Pedagogies.Design/methodology/approachThe findings drawn upon in this paper are from a critical human-animal ethnographic study carried out in three Swedish primary schools between 2012 and 2017 using a case study approach of interviews, observation and intervention.FindingsThis paper suggests that children's subtle ways of resisting and negotiating their own space in the face of adultism, which is the power adults exercise over children, are an ongoing struggle which can both destabilize anthropocentrism and open up space for new pedagogical practice.Originality/valueThis paper explores the implications of and possibilities for teaching and learning given the positions of human children and non-human animals intersect, foremost exploring the agency of children in the school environment.

This essay draws on recent vegan interventions in education, mainly in a European and compulsory education context. Vegan meals are increasingly being served in schools for sustainability and health reasons, though for the children animal ethics may be an equally or even more important aspect. The growing number of vegan children is pushing for their needs to be met. There are nowadays even some all-vegan schools. How can vegan education pave the way for the ethical treatment of animals while strengthening its position within education for sustainable development and, in the longer run, change norms in and beyond education?