This study is about the features of educational experience in early childhood linked to animals, with a particular emphasis on the role and perspectives of early education practitioners (EEPs) in England. It includes a consideration of the influences of the earlier scholars and philosophers and a shift in pedagogy and methods for young children’s education; about animals, with animals and ‘as nature’. The study ‘maps’ the status of animal-related education in early childhood and it notes a decline in animal-assisted learning which has occurred as an outcome of particular political activities, legislation, and other factors. The research is both exploratory and confirmatory and utilised a mixed methods bricolage as a methodology, method and philosophy. There are three phases of research; an evaluation of the status of animal-assisted and animal-related learning in early childhood education, an inquiry into the attitudes and perspectives of early education practitioners and the development and piloting of a framework to support early education practitioners for animal-related education. The action-oriented final phase includes the piloting of an ‘Animal Aware School’ scheme and a number of dissemination activities and these are evaluated. An outcome of the research is the identification of the association between animal-related education and the global agenda for a Sustainable Future (SF) and the emergence of the notion of ‘noticing animals’. The findings of this thesis make an original contribution to knowledge in the field in three ways; 1) There has been a collection of new data – predominantly the perspectives of early education practitioners about animal-related education in early childhood – and a first systematic review of relevant texts and discourse, 2) This is a first inquiry at the intersection of the anthrozoology, early childhood education and psychology fields of study about animal-related education in early childhood, and 3) There has been the creation of a new term ‘Early Childhood Educational Anthrozoology’ which has not been in usage before and will help with future discourse.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:697483 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Gallard, Diahann |
| Contributors | Hennessy, Claire ; McIlroy, David ; Smears, Elizabeth |
| Publisher | Liverpool John Moores University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/4494/ |
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