Classroom Animals Provide More Than Just Science Education

Herbert, Sandra; Lynch, Julianne

doi:10.1007/s11191-017-9874-6

Cited by 8 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The adults were principals, teachers, science specialist teachers, and university science students. According to the adults interviewed, raising animals in class motivated and encouraged the students to learn about science and influenced the students' socio-emotional and ethical development positively [12]. This is also supported by Daly and Suggs [32], who interviewed teachers who stated that animals in the classroom contributed to increased empathy and development of socio-emotional skills.…”

Section: Animals In the Classroommentioning

confidence: 85%

“…The whole study thus became an exploration with many interesting surprises. Herbert and Lynch [12] found benefits from having classroom animals because of science learning, humane education, cross-curriculum learning, and for opportunities for links to society outside the school. They also identified that there was an obstacle because of the added burden.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, research results concerning the learning effects have been contradictory. Nevertheless, Herbert and Lynch [12] refer to studies that show how animals in the classroom have a positive impact on the learning of science. Their own study, in which they interviewed 19 adults in a school with an animal (e.g., fish, scorpion or stick insect) in every classroom, showed the same result.…”

Section: Animals In the Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is worth mentioning that taking care of animals also entails additional costs and work [12]. It also requires the teacher to have expertise.…”

Section: Animals In the Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, research on this topic is rare, especially qualitative studies. Herbert and Lynch [12] interviewed adults about their experiences after a classroom animal project and the researchers recommend further studies on the topic from the students' point of view. Our study presents the students' and one teacher's view.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chicken Raising in a Diverse Finnish Classroom: Multidimensional Sustainability Learning

2018

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Social change requires new educational planning and sustainable teaching methods. Shaping an environment of care with animals as a part of the daily school life may produce such a change. In this article, we present a transdisciplinary study with the aim of exploring whether raising chickens in a classroom could promote learning, especially sustainability learning, and how. The study employs an ethnographic approach and we have analyzed the data according to interaction analysis. We collected the data in a culturally-diverse Finnish primary school class during May 2018. The data comprise field notes, videos and photographs from indoor and outdoor school activities; interviews and discussions with teachers and students; and, texts and artifacts that were made by students. The results show that having chickens in the classroom not only improved the students' learning of biology, but also enhanced many other activities. The chicken project became part of a complex learning culture that met several of the aims of the curriculum and in many ways reached beyond the aim of merely learning science. The project became a natural part of sustainability education and promoted the acquisition of knowledge and skills in relation to the ecological and social dimensions of sustainability.any structural obstacles to health, influence, competence, impartiality, or meaning making. The crucial elements that should be maintained in a socially sustainable context are trust, common meaning, diversity, capacity for learning, and capacity for self-organization. Even if these criteria are not especially worked out for schools, they are still applicable in a school context. 'Learning as meaning making' involves identities and emotions and emphasizes that when learning, people try to make sense of the situation with its frame, objects, and relationships based on experiences and cultural resources [6].According to Gadotti [7], sustainability means that people live in harmony with each other and the environment; a crucial goal, therefore, is that there should be harmony among the differences [7]. The social dimension of sustainability supports equality in culturally-diverse settings. Among many other important questions, sustainability education must deal with inequality and power issues [1] and it should recognize challenges on ethical, cognitive, and practical levels [3]. Based on empirical research, Green and Summerwille [8] distinguish four meta-level categories through which they understand the essential elements of sustainability education:

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Section: Animals In the Classroommentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Animals In the Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is worth mentioning that taking care of animals also entails additional costs and work [12]. It also requires the teacher to have expertise.…”

Section: Animals In the Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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