Animals in Education

Abstract

A number of different views of the moral status of animals exist in today's society; some have been entrenched for many years. Two of the most widely held views are the humanitarian -humans should treat animals kindly and with consideration and should not be cruel; and the dominionistic-humans have been given dominion over other animals and we may do what we want with them provided that the consequences are not unfavorable to human beings (Kellert 1980). However, these attitudes are being called into question with increasing frequency. The current resurgence of interest in animal rights (Singer 1975; Regan and Singer 1976; Clark 1977; Frey 1980) has resulted in much greater attention being paid to the distinction between warranted and unwarranted exploitation of animals as opposed to the simpler and more emotive concepts of kindness and cruelty (Fox and Rowan 1980). While it is important to foster behavior favoring kindness and discouraging cruelty, these concepts are not particularly useful in helping to resolve conflicts between human and animal interests, such as the use of animals in biomedical research and education. For example, we are not being kind to a frog when we pith it for a classroom demonstration, but are we being cruel? For a small but vocal minority, the answer is an unequivocal yes. For the majority, the answer is not so clear-cut, and this is where the concept of justified and unjustified exploitation is more useful in making social cost-benefit decisions. Education plays an important role in developing social consensus on such value-laden issues (Hoskins 1979; Kieffer 1979); but, to date, most educational efforts present very limited concepts of human/animal interactions. Animals are illustrated in their role in nature, or as anthropomorphized beings that behave and act very much like humans, or as useful didactic tools, especially in interactive situations between student and animal. Live animal studies are popular with teachers and students because the animal's immediate reaction to a stimulus provides positive reinforcement of learning and serves to stimulate interest and hold attention. However, maintenance of the animals in the classroom is not so welcome a past-time and neglect, particularly over holiday periods, can be a problem. There is a difference between the study of animals in humane education curricula in elementary grades and the use of animals in biology classes. In humane education classes, the animals are used to develop positive feelings and a humanitarian ethic (be kind, do not be cruel) towards our fellow creatures. In the biology classroom, the animal is perceived as a model of living processes and the prevailing attitude is that one should maintain a distance from the object of study so that emotions and sentiment do not interfere with accurate observation and the collection of data. Unfortunately, it is all tooeasy for the student to confuse and humane purposes. Some students perceive the mere manipulation of an animal as scientific and the presence of an ethical concern for the animal's fate as emotional, unscientific, and, hence, undesirable. Because many students become preoccupied with the mechanical elements of animal experimentation -rather than developing the selfcritical and intuitive skills that are the basis of top-flight research-animal welfare advocates have raised questions about the use of vertebrates in school projects that do (or could) involve pain and/or distress. In contrast, the supporters of animal research point to the need to motivate, encourage, and nurture students who