Classroom pets are animals that are present in an educational classroom as a pet. [1] Research and literature in the 21st century has shown the main reasons for having classroom pets is to capture the attention of students, improve relationships, provide the opportunity for creative activities, be a resource for humane education, and act as a motivator for students. [2]
In 1987, The National Institute of Health reported evidence on the health benefits of pets and further studies have shown positive effects from children's relationships with pets. [3] It has thus been assumed that similar benefits would present themselves with classroom pets on students. [4]
Classroom pets can support young children's social-emotional development. [5] Classroom pets help build positive relationships through discussions about classroom pets, such as what to name it, and how to care for it, and then working together to do so. [5] This also aids in the development of friendships within the classroom. [5] It has been found that students develop a sense of caring about others other than themselves through tending to the needs of the animals in the classroom. [5] It has also been seen that discussions about the behaviors of the animals in the classroom, what they mean, and what the students can do about it can help students become empathetic towards others. [5] Teachers have claimed that classroom pets also teach children the value of routines and rules. [5] One study compared students in a classroom with class pets to one without for 8 weeks. [6] The study found that both parents and teachers reported that the students in the class with the guinea pigs had greater increases in social skills and decreases in behavior problems at the end of the 8 weeks. [6] These results support similar previous study results. [6]
Young children's interaction with classroom pets can also help them manage feelings and emotions. Research has shown that children need an empathetic listener whenever they feel troubled. Children can be encouraged to share their feelings with their animals if they do not want to express them with an adult. [5] A study surveying 75 elementary teachers, revealed that most teachers believed students displayed an increase in compassion and empathy when pets were used in the classroom. [1] Additional findings have shown that classroom pets, not only improve compassion and empathy but also teach children to have respect for the living things in the world around them. [4]
Classroom pets can also have a positive effect on the social-emotional development of students with autism spectrum disorder. After engaging in animal-assisted activities for 8-weeks, children with autism spectrum disorder displayed an increase in social skills and a decrease in social withdrawal. [7]
Teachers conveyed that classroom pets contribute to the academic development of students and have identified pets as important sources for students. They have found them to expand learning and increase development. [1] Academic lessons, ranging from science to language arts, have been enriched by this valuable source and have improved academic competence among students. [4] Classroom pets create an object of observation and research for children during science class. Children will learn how to care for the animal, what it eats, and what type of surroundings it needs to live. Science can also be linked with language arts using classroom pets. Students can write books and create presentations from their research. Students academic skills in math also increase by having a classroom pet. Students can measure its physical attributes and how quickly or how far it moves using graphs or charts (Benham, 1991, p. 21). [8]
Through the use of a dog-assisted activity program in a multi-cultural elementary classroom, researchers found that teachers are more aware of student difficulties and strengths after interacting with dogs. After engaging with dogs, it was found that students expressed emotions and displayed behaviors more clearly, helping teachers recognize student qualities that were hidden prior to the dog-assisted activity. [2] This suggests that the presence of classroom pets does not only benefit students but also results in increased teacher awareness. Despite these results, survey research shows that only about 17% of elementary teachers have classroom pets. [1]
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/cute appearances, intelligence, and relatable personalities, but some pets may be taken in on an altruistic basis and accepted by the owner regardless of these characteristics.
Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on other's another person's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more definitions of empathy that include but are not limited to social, cognitive, and emotional processes primarily concerned with understanding others. Often times, empathy is considered to be a broad term, and broken down into more specific concepts and types that include cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, somatic empathy, and spiritual empathy.
In psychology, theory of mind refers to the capacity to understand other people by ascribing mental states to them. A theory of mind includes the understanding that others' beliefs, desires, intentions, emotions, and thoughts may be different from one's own. Possessing a functional theory of mind is crucial for success in everyday human social interactions. People utilize a theory of mind when analyzing, judging, and inferring others' behaviors. The discovery and development of theory of mind primarily came from studies done with animals and infants. Factors including drug and alcohol consumption, language development, cognitive delays, age, and culture can affect a person's capacity to display theory of mind. Having a theory of mind is similar to but not identical with having the capacity for empathy or sympathy.
The buddy system is a procedure in which two individuals, the "buddies", operate together as a single unit so that they are able to monitor and help each other. As per Merriam-Webster, the first known use of the phrase "buddy system" goes back to 1942. Webster goes on to define the buddy system as "an arrangement in which two individuals are paired .”
A therapy dog is a dog that is trained to provide affection, comfort and support to people, often in settings such as hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, libraries, hospices, or disaster areas. In contrast to assistance dogs, which are trained to assist specific patients with their day-to-day physical needs, therapy dogs are trained to interact with all kinds of people, not just their handlers.
The neurodiversity paradigm is a framework for understanding human brain function that recognizes the diversity within sensory processing, motor abilities, social comfort, cognition, and focus as neurobiological differences. This diversity falls on a spectrum of neurocognitive differences. The neurodiversity paradigm argues that diversity in neurocognition is part of humanity and that some neurodivergences generally classified as disorders, such as autism, are differences and disabilities that are not necessarily pathological. Neurotypical individuals are those who fall within the average range of functioning and thinking.
Recess is a general term for a period in which a group of people are temporarily dismissed from their duties.
A classroom, schoolroom or lecture room is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education or training is provided, such as corporations and religious and humanitarian organizations. The classroom provides a space where learning can take place uninterrupted by outside distractions.
School violence includes violence between school students as well as attacks by students on school staff and attacks by school staff on students. It encompasses physical violence, including student-on-student fighting, corporal punishment; psychological violence such as verbal abuse, and sexual violence, including rape and sexual harassment. It includes many forms of bullying and carrying weapons to school. The one or more perpetrators typically have more physical, social, and/or psychological power than the victim. It is a widely accepted serious societal problem in recent decades in many countries, especially where weapons such as guns or knives are involved.
Mainstreaming, in the context of education, is the practice of placing students with special education needs in a general education classroom during specific time periods based on their skills. This means students who are a part of the special education classroom will join the regular education classroom at certain times which are fitting for the special education student. These students may attend art or physical education in the regular education classrooms. Sometimes these students will attend math and science in a separate classroom, but attend English in a general education classroom. Schools that practice mainstreaming believe that students with special needs who cannot function in a general education classroom to a certain extent belong in the special education environment.
Autism therapies include a wide variety of therapies that help people with autism, or their families. Such methods of therapy seek to aid autistic people in dealing with difficulties and increase their functional independence.
Inclusion in education refers to including all students to equal access to equal opportunities of education and learning, and is distinct from educational equality or educational equity. It arose in the context of special education with an individualized education program or 504 plan, and is built on the notion that it is more effective for students with special needs to have the said mixed experience for them to be more successful in social interactions leading to further success in life. The philosophy behind the implementation of the inclusion model does not prioritize, but still provides for the utilization of special classrooms and special schools for the education of students with disabilities. Inclusive education models are brought into force by educational administrators with the intention of moving away from seclusion models of special education to the fullest extent practical, the idea being that it is to the social benefit of general education students and special education students alike, with the more able students serving as peer models and those less able serving as motivation for general education students to learn empathy.
PARO is a therapeutic baby harp seal robot, intended to be very cute and to have a calming effect on and elicit emotional responses in patients of hospitals and nursing homes, similar to animal-assisted therapy except using robots.
Humane education is broadly defined as education that nurtures compassion and respect for living beings In addition to focusing on the humane treatment of non-human animals, humane education also increasingly contains content related to the environment, the compassionate treatment of other people, and the interconnectedness of issues pertaining to people and the planet. Humane education encourages cognitive, affective, and behavioral growth through personal development of critical thinking, problem solving, perspective-taking, and empathy as it relates to people, animals, the planet, and the intersections among them. Education taught through the lens of humane pedagogy supports more than knowledge acquisition, it allows learners to process personal values and choose prosocial behaviors aligned with those values.
Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is an alternative or complementary type of therapy that includes the use of animals in a treatment. The goal of this animal-assisted intervention is to improve a patient's social, emotional, or cognitive functioning. Studies have documented some positive effects of the therapy on subjective self-rating scales and on objective physiological measures such as blood pressure and hormone levels.
Garden-based learning (GBL) encompasses programs, activities and projects in which the garden is the foundation for integrated learning, in and across disciplines, through active, engaging, real-world experiences that have personal meaning for children, youth, adults and communities in an informal outside learning setting. Garden-based learning is an instructional strategy that utilizes the garden as a teaching tool.
Classwide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) is a variation of peer-mediated instruction that has been used in elementary, middle school, and high school classrooms. In CWPT students form pairs and take turns in the roles of tutor and student. Students earn points for their teams by participating in the tutoring and the winning team is recognized. Researchers have investigated CWPT's effectiveness in several different academic areas.
Perspective-taking is the act of perceiving a situation or understanding a concept from an alternative point of view, such as that of another individual.
The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an augmentative and alternative communication system developed and produced by Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc. PECS was developed in 1985 at the Delaware Autism Program by Andy Bondy, PhD, and Lori Frost, MS, CCC-SLP. The developers of PECS noticed that traditional communication techniques, including speech imitation, sign language, and picture point systems, relied on the teacher to initiate social interactions and none focused on teaching students to initiate interactions. Based on these observations, Bondy and Frost created a functional means of communication for individuals with a variety of communication challenges. Although PECS was originally developed for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), its use has become much more widespread. Through the years, PECS has been successfully implemented with individuals with varying diagnoses across the aged span. PECS is an evidence-based practice that has been highly successful with regard to the development of functional communication skills.
Ecological empathy, or eco-empathy, is empathy directed towards the natural world. It encompasses empathy directed towards animals, plants, ecosystems, and the earth as a whole.
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