Animals’ perspectives spark engagement in schools
When upper secondary school students were given the opportunity to view sustainability issues from the perspective of animals, it sparked strong engagement and new conversations about power, justice and sustainability. This is shown in a doctoral thesis from the University of Gothenburg.
How can we teach sustainability in a way that does not put humans at the centre? In her thesis, Jonna Kallaste Håkansson explores what happens when upper secondary students are given the chance to take the animals’ perspective in their learning.
– We are in the midst of a sustainability crisis in which humanity’s relationship with other animals plays a crucial role. Yet animals are most often treated as resources in education — as food in the school canteen or as objects of dissection. I wanted to explore what happens if we instead see them as individuals and take an interspecies approach to sustainability education, says Jonna Kallaste Håkansson.
Challenging what seems self-evident
Together with teachers, students, researchers and animal rights activists, Jonna Kallaste Håkansson developed and tested different lesson designs within what is known as critical animal pedagogy. This meant that students worked with materials from animal rights organisations, reflected on life in factory farms and zoos from the animals’ point of view, and discussed alternatives to current human–animal relations.
Many students, who had never discussed these issues before, showed great commitment and contributed deep reflections. When animals were presented as subjects rather than resources, new opportunities arose to examine power relations and imagine more sustainable ways of living together with other species.
Normative and democratic at the same time
The thesis shows that the line between teaching that takes a clear stance and teaching that highlights multiple perspectives on sustainability issues is not as sharp as it is often portrayed. Critical animal pedagogy explicitly advocates for the rights of animals and nature, which contributed to broader democratic discussions in classrooms.
– The ideal of the neutral teacher often means that marginalised perspectives are excluded. Our experience is that an open normative stance can make more voices visible and thereby strengthen students’ ability to think critically and develop agency, says Jonna Kallaste Håkansson.
A seed for change
The results show that there is more room in upper secondary education for this kind of work than many might think. Critical animal pedagogy can be linked to ethical, social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability, and above all contributes a holistic perspective that highlights how these dimensions interact.
– Education alone cannot change the world. But it can help more young people to see and imagine alternatives to today’s exploitative structures, and thus gain broader perspectives on what a sustainable society might be, says Jonna Kallaste Håkansson.
Jonna Kallaste Håkansson hopes the findings will inspire others. The idea is to create a platform and resource bank with lesson plans, exercises and continuing education materials for teachers and others interested in working with critical animal pedagogy.
Title: Toward an Animal Standpoint in School? Critical Animal Pedagogy as Sustainability Education
Contact: Jonna Kallaste Håkansson, email: jonna.hakansson@gu.se