Animals are woven into our daily lives, whether through pet ownership, wildlife, assistance animals or the products we use. Approximately 76% of children own a pet as do just over half of the adult population (54%). Understanding the needs of animals and how they communicate is beneficial to humans and animals. Safe and positive animal interactions can help prevent dog bites, caring for animals properly can prevent zoonotic diseases and antibiotic resistance, animals can improve wellbeing and help in child development. Yet, despite all of this, there is no statutory requirement for animal welfare education.
Research has demonstrated that instances of witnessing animal cruelty have increased, knowledge about and belief in animal sentience is inadequate and dissonance between attitudes and behaviour persists. So how do we change this? Improving knowledge is only one piece of the puzzle, but it’s an underutilised piece. Childhood is a key period for developing empathy, understanding and behaviour and attitudes towards animal use and speciesism develop and change across the life span, making education an ideal platform for change. Traditionally, animal welfare science has focused on understanding capacity to experience pain, cognition, suffering and welfare assessments. Far less emphasis has been placed on public education, despite its potential for change.
Thanks to my Early Career Fellowship, I have been able to survey educators to understand their views on animal welfare education, including barriers and enablers. They reported several barriers to including animal welfare in schools such as time pressure, lack of senior leader support, perceived lack of relevance, gaps in knowledge, parental backlash, and concerns over controversy. These quotes from teachers captured some of the tension: “I’m not allowed to mention that the animal we see on a trip to a farm are the same as the meat they eat on their plate” and “…might be considered partisan views – sackable offence!” The quotes demonstrate restrictions in a system that is meant to ensure children understand the world they live in.
This data is only a snapshot of the findings I have so far, but I expect that concerns around controversiality may be the hardest barrier to overcome. For example, I didn’t expect the backlash on social media sites when I was promoting this work. My posts were jumped on by individuals assuming I wanted to “indoctrinate” children into veganism or presenting me with a false dichotomy: “animal welfare….what about the welfare of our children.” Whilst frustrating, these comments further strengthened my views on the need for animal welfare education.
My research fellowship has given me the time I needed to start developing animal welfare education at Sheffield Hallam, to network with animal welfare charities and collaborate with national and international academics in this field. I have set up a new research group: Animal Welfare and Education throughout Childhood and Adolescence (AWECA). AWECA aims to unite researchers and practitioners interested in animals throughout a child’s development and how children can learn about animal welfare.
A strengthened approach to animal welfare education has enormous potential, not just for animals, but also for young people’s wellbeing, empathy and understanding. Through AWECA, I hope to build a community at Sheffield Hallam (and beyond) that makes this possible.
If you have found this blog post interesting or any of it has resonated with the work that you do, I would love for you to join me. You can email me at: s.j.reaney-wood@shu.ac.uk
Dr Sarah Reaney-Wood is a Senior Research Fellow in the Sheffield Institute of Education
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