8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
1/13
Effects of
animals on
children's
development
and on their
perception ofanimals
http://www.deshow.net/baby/children-how-to-get-along-with-animals-40.html#pic
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
2/13
Biophilia
hypothesis
by Edward O. Wilson,
1929
Biophilia (love of live,love for living systems)
= the innate tendencyto focus on life andlifelike processes
Wilson, 1929, p. 1
http://www.deshow.net/baby/children-how-to-get-along-with-animals-40.html#pic
http://weheartit.com/entry/6111014
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
3/13
Companion animals
(seem to) influence children's emotional,
social, cognitive developmentpositively
(moststudies say so), BUT:
Causality dilemma
Validity problemsfurther research/longitudinal
studies needed
Effects on animals?
Endenburg/van Lith 2011
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
4/13
Children and animals
Regulated contactwithanimals in therapy or as
companions positive effect is proven
Some scientist also
claim non-regulated
contactbetween
animals and children in
wilderness areas (Louv2008, Kahn/Kellert 2002)
http://www.susanne-fischer-rizzi.de/fs_sem-wildnis.html
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
5/13
Nature Deficit Disorder
How today's children perceive nature is characterizedby trends like:
Severance from food's origins
Machines = humans = animals
Romanticizing
Contact with the wild
BUT: research on the impact of nature experiences on
attention disorders (...) is in its infancyLouv, "Last Child in the Woods", 2008, p. 19/p. 110
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
6/13
www.heimbach-eifel.de
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
7/13
Contemporary test of the Biophilia hypothesis
Humans have an innate desire to catalog, understand,and spend time with other life-forms.
but what happens, if there is hardly any natural
contact any more with other life-forms?
Balmford et al. (2002) surveyed 109 UK children aged 4-11 yrs.
by showing them flashcards of
10 types of British wildlife species and
10 Pokmon species
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
8/13
Brown hare
vs. ...
http://www.countryfile.com/tips-
techniques/best-places-
photograph-wildlife-uk
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
9/13
vs. Pikachu
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
10/13
Results Balmford et al. (2002)
mean idenitfication success of wildlife:
32% at age 4, 53% at age 8, then fell slightly.
mean idenitfication success of Pokmon:
7% at age 4, 78% at age 8, older children
typically identifying Pokmon species
substantially better than organisms such as oak
trees or badgers.
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
11/13
The farm as a pedagogical resource
Agricultural University of Norway, 1995: create pedagogical spaces in
which committed, caring and continuous work with nature could go on,
enabling an experience of connection and belonging
Start of the project1995-2000: LivingschoolsTeachers and farmers worktogether, develop a 1-year-plan.
Jolly et al. 2004
http://www.livinglearning.org/
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
12/13
The farm as a pedagogical resource
Time spent at farms in order to meet
defined subject goals(e.g. observe lifecycles of animals & plants),
but also
general curriculum goals(awareness of environmental questions,
man's role in relationship to domestic animals etc.).
e.g. 3rdgrade class, farm inAurland: sheep-shearing inautumn, collecting, sorting,cleaning, combing, weaving of wool;
winter/spring: birth of lambs, followsheep to pasture, set out saltstones, milking.Jolly et al. 2004
8/12/2019 Prae s 090413 Ka Efer
13/13
LiteraturBalmford, A./Clegg, L./Coulson, T./Taylor, J., 2002: Why Conservationists Should Heed Pokmon, In: Science 29
March 2002: Vol. 295 no. 5564 p. 2367.
Douglas, Mary, 2010 [1966]: Purity and Danger. An analysis of concept of pollution and taboo, Routledge
Classics, London/New York.
Endenburg, N./van Lith, H.A., 2011: The influence of animals on the development of children, In: The Veterinary
Journal 190 (2011), p. 208-214.
Jolly, L./Krogh, E./Nergaard, T./Parow, K./Verstad, B., 2004: The Farm as a Pedagogical Resource: Background
for and evaluation of the co-operation between agriculture and primary school in the county of Nord-Trondelag, Norway, In: Cristvao, Artur (ed.): Farming and rural systems research and extension.
Proceedings of the 6thEuropean Symposium of the International Farming Systems Association, Vila Real. p.
633-643. http://home.utad.pt/~des/ifsa/ifsa_6th_eu_proceed.pdf
Kahn, Peter H. Jr./Kellert, St. R. (eds.), 2002: Children and nature: psychological, sociocultural and evolutionary
investigations, MIT Press, Boston.
Louv, Richard, 2008: Last Child in the Woods. Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Algonquin
Books of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill.
Wilson, E. O., 1984 [1929]: Biophilia. The human bond with other species, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Top Related