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Short-Term Interventions That Accomplish Humane Education Goals: An International Review of the Research Literature

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Teaching Compassion: Humane Education in Early Childhood

Part of the book series: Educating the Young Child ((EDYC,volume 8))

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Abstract

The value of humane educational programs in the relationship with animals, humans, and violence, in general, has been demonstrated. However, a nationwide program has not been established, and most of the interventions around the world are based in programs developed by humane associations, whose success evaluations in general lack of a rigorous methodology. However, few studies with robust methodology support some of these programs. Among these papers, authors concluded that (1) effective short-term courses can vary in length from 30 min to 40 h distributed during one semester; (2) children exposed to these programs generalize animal empathy with human-directed empathy; (3) children between 6 and 13 years of age are able to learn about humane behavior toward animals and humans through role-play, printed materials, and lectures, which have a synergistic effect; (4) short-term humane education programs can be effective and sustainable over the long term; and (5) children’s stage of development affects humane learning. This chapter is a review of some of the successful, short-term interventions published in the scientific literature.

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Correspondence to AgustĂ­n Orihuela .

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Aguirre, V., Orihuela, A. (2014). Short-Term Interventions That Accomplish Humane Education Goals: An International Review of the Research Literature. In: Renck Jalongo, M. (eds) Teaching Compassion: Humane Education in Early Childhood. Educating the Young Child, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6922-9_2

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