Education is a powerful and effective means to foster the values of compassion and respect for animals in the younger generation.  Animal education, often referred to as 'humane education', is a growing field in many countries.

In Australia, recent research by Griffith University in Queensland has shown that teachers and students:

• Have a strong compassionate ethos in relation to animals.
• Are interested in learning about the treatment of most animal types.
• Have strong inconsistencies and contradictions in attitudes, particularly when applied to specific uses of animals.
• Have considerable gaps in knowledge of animals' abilities and how animals are treated.

Students

• Demonstrate a more consistent and compassionate ethos than teachers; and younger students more than older students.
• Think they are taught little or nothing about most animal ethics issues.
• Agree that they should learn about the abilities of animals so that they can understand their needs and agreed that they should learn how animals are treated so they can look after their interests.

Teachers

• Believe it is important to include animal ethics in the school curriculum.
• Are interested in teaching ethics in general and animal ethics in particular.
• Have not taught a range of animal ethics topics including the feelings and intelligence of animals, the treatment of animals used in farming, research, entertainment, and live export, the treatment of unwanted companion animals and wild animals, how to care for farm and companion animals and the laws related to animals.

Although the majority of teachers believed that the “Values for Australian Schooling”such as care and compassion, which have been officially recognised by the Australian Government as a core part of the Australian curriculum since 2002, should be applied to animals as well as people, the majority of teachers were not applying these values to the treatment of animals.

Please follow this link to download the Griffith University Research Project: “Learning to Care: Education for Compassion” by Gail Tulloch, Director and Joy Verrinder, Researcher.  For the report summary  please follow this alternate link.

Learn more about humane education by visiting these websites:

Animals & Us provides resources on animal issues for teachers and students in New Zealand secondary schools.  

Farm Sanctuary Humane Education Programs - Farm Sanctuary's Cultivating Compassion program offers teachers materials that have been designed to encourage respect and kindness toward all living beings and the environment.

PETAKIDS is the kids' arm of US based organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

PETA2 is a very cool website aimed at high school students with animal rights resources for classroom projects with information ranging from health and environment to philosophy.

Share the World is a free educational program designed to help students better understand and appreciate the animals with whom we share our world.

Teachkind is a USA based website with many classroom and other resources for teachers.

The Humane Education Loan Program (HELP) through the Australian Association for Humane Research (AAHR) provides students and educators with alternatives to classroom animal dissection and animal experimentation.

The International Institute for Humane Education is a US based organisation providing information and further study in this field.

World Society for the Protection of Animals has a Global Programme for Humane Education in schools with a focus on International Animal Welfare Education ('IN AWE')

For additional Humane Education resources, please visit the Teachers Resources pages of the Animal Club website.

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