Abstract
In the time of the Anthropocene, the human species’ destructive effect on the planet and other nonhuman species is evident. The socialization process of children plays a significant role in the preservation of a speciesist Western society, as the exploitation, captivity, and instrumental use of nonhuman animals are normalized through the reproduction of speciesist messages in the educational setting, through children’s media and our language use, which all reinforce the idea of nonhuman animals as the other. Speciesism, the underlying ideology that excludes nonhuman animals from the sphere of moral concern and legal protection, is dependent on its reproduction, just as other dominant ideologies. The exploitation of nonhuman animals and human-nonhuman animal hierarchy is further normalized through environmental education and welfare education and the notion of the humane use of nonhuman animals. Can our treatment of nonhuman animals be characterized as humane? What does it mean to be humane? This chapter examines how humane education can refute speciesist messages, as it offers children the tools to identify and critically assess interconnected webs of oppression and thus re-examine the human-nonhuman relationship.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Adams, C. J. (1991). The sexual politics of meat: A feminist-vegetarian critical theory. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.
Andrzejewski, J., Pedersen, H., & Wicklund, F. (2009). Interspecies education for humans, animals and the earth. In J. Andrzejewski et al. (Eds.), Social justice, peace and environmental education: Transformative standards (pp. 136–154). New York, NY: Routledge.
Bekoff, M. (2013). Ignoring nature no more: The case for compassionate conservation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Brake, L., & Demoor, M. (2009). Dictionary of nineteenth-century journalism in great Britain and Ireland. Gent: Academia Press and The British Library.
Caine, R. (2015). Teaching compassion: On behalf of the animals. Toronto, ON: WaterHill Publishing.
Caine, R. (2009). Humane education: A Foundation for Connecting with all of Earth’s inhabitants. The Green Teacher, 85, 9–13.
Cole, M., & Stewart, K. (2014). Our children and other animals: The cultural construction of human-animal relations in childhood. Oxon: Routledge.
DeMello, M. (2012). Animals and society: An introduction to human-animal studies. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Dunayer, J. (2001). Animal equality: Language and liberation. Derwood, MD: Ryce Publishing.
Francione, G. (2004). Animals-property of persons? In C. Sunstein & M. Nussbaum (Eds.), Animal rights - current debates and new directions (pp. 25–66). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Gómez Galán, J. (2005). Animal rights education: An initiative at university. In N. Jukes & S. Martinsen (Eds.), Alternatives in the mainstream: Innovations in life science education and training. Proceedings of the 2nd InterNICHE conference. Leicester/Oslo: InterNICHE.
Goodall, J., & Bekoff, M. (2003). Los Diez Mandamientos para Compartir el Planeta con los Animales Que Amamos. Paidos Iberica: Trans. Patricia Teixidor. Barcelona.
Horsthemke, K. (2009). Rethinking humane education. Ethics and Education, 4(2), 201–214.
Humane (Def. 1) (n.d). Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved 16th February 2018, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/humane.
Humane (Def. 2) (n.d.). Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved on 16th February 2018, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/humane.
Jalongo, M. R. (2004). “But Aren’t they too little?” challenging assumptions about young Children’s capacity for understanding humane education concepts. In M. R. Jalongo (Ed.), Teaching compassion: Humane education in early childhood, Educating the young child series (Vol. 8, pp. xi–xvi). Dordrecht: Springer.
Jalongo, M. R. (2014). Humane education and the development of empathy in early childhood: Definitions, rationale, and outcomes. In M. R. Jalongo (Ed.), Teaching compassion: Humane education in early childhood, Educating the young child series (Vol. 8, pp. 3–10). Dordrecht: Springer.
Kahn, R., & Humes, B. (2009). Marching out from Ultima Thule: Critical Counterstories of emancipatory educators working at the intersection of human rights, animal rights, and planetary sustainability. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 14, 179–195.
Kopnina, H. (2014). Debating ecological justice: Implications for critical environmental education. Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment, 12(4), 290–300.
Melson, G. F. (2005). Why the wild things are: Animals in the lives of children. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Morris, M. (2015). Posthuman education and animal inferiority. In N. Snaza & J. A. Weaver (Eds.), Posthumanism and educational research (pp. 43–55). New York, NY: Routledge.
Myers, G. (2007). The significance of children and animals: Social development and our connections to other species. West Lafayette: IN: Purdue University Press.
Nicol, K., et al. (2008). An in-class humane education program can improve young students’ attitudes toward animals. Society and Animals, 16, 45–60.
Oakley, J., et al. (2010). Animal encounters in environmental education research: Responding to the “question of the animal”. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 15, 86–102.
Oakley, J. (2011). Animality and environmental education: Toward and interspecies paradigm. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 16, 8–13.
Patil, N. P. (2012). Role of education in social change. International Educational E-Journal, 1(2), 205–210.
Pedersen, H. (2004). Schools, speciesism, and hidden curricula: The role of critical pedagogy for humane education futures. Journal of Future Studies, 8(4), 1–14.
Pedersen, H. (2010). Animals in schools: Processes and strategies in human-animal education. West Lafayette: IN: Purdue University Press.
Singer, P. (1999). Liberación Animal (Paula Casal, Trans.). Madrid: Trotta.
Torres, B. (2007). Making a killing: The political economy of animal rights. Oakland, CA: AK Press.
Unti, B., & DeRosa, B. (2003). Humane education: Past, present, and future. In D. J. Salem & A. N. Rowan (Eds.), The state of the animals II (pp. 27–50). Washington, DC: Humane Society Press.
Weil, Z. (2004). The power and promise of humane education. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.
Weil, Z. (2016). The world becomes what we teach: Educating a generation of Solutionaries. New York, NY: Lantern Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Saari, M.H. (2018). Re-examining the Human-Nonhuman Animal Relationship Through Humane Education. In: Cutter-Mackenzie, A., Malone, K., Barratt Hacking, E. (eds) Research Handbook on Childhoodnature . Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51949-4_69-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51949-4_69-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51949-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51949-4
eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education