Are you considering bringing in animals to your school, nursery or other education setting? Perhaps you already work with animals…Dr Helen Lewis shares her work around animal assisted education, explaining the importance of moving towards the view of animals as members of the classroom, rather than simply using animals to serve us. Helen shares the vast benefits for children when involving dogs as partners in learning, from self-regulation to understanding sustainable citizenship.

Read Helen’s article:

Animals in education settings -  https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/animals-in-education-settings/

Listen to more:

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Impacts of outdoors on children’s behaviour and attention: The science behind outdoor play series with Gemma Goldenberg -  

https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/articles/outdoor-learning/

Essential skills for social sustainability with Carmela Garcia Manas - https://thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/articles/sustainability/

Episode break down:

00:00 – A holistic view of animals in education
02:24 – Social skills, wellbeing and citizenship

06:00 – Animals supporting self-regulation
09:40 – Therapy dogs vs ‘animal assisted education’
13:00 – Training and regulations
14:30 – Differences between breeds of dogs
16:00 – Thinking about the dog’s best interests
15:35 – A practical view of dogs in settings
20:40 – Matching dogs with children
23:40 – Involving dogs in the learning process rather than ‘using dogs’
25:25 – The safety of dogs in settings
29:00 – Understanding consent and emotions
31:00 – Playful learning is powerful in animal assisted education

For more episodes and articles visit The Voice of Early Childhood website: https://www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com