21 July 2008 | animals in the classroom, guest blogger, research, student, student research | frazec

Caroline Lynch is an undergraduate Childhood Education/Sociology major at Russell Sage College. She was recently given the Ferguson Award for Sociology for her research and work with animal rights. She’s thinking about attending the No More Homeless Pets Conference in Las Vegas, in October. When she comes back, we’ll have her give us an update. In the meantime, Caroline tells us …

Humans and animals have been interacting in various ways for centuries. Until just recently, researchers have determined some of the benefits animals can bring to human lives. Animals have begun to be utilized as therapeutic agents in specific health care institutions, such as intensive care units, nursing homes, pediatric centers, numerous types of clinics, and psychotherapy treatment centers (Kaminski, Pellino, & Wish, 2003). In particular, animals have also been newly introduced into school facilities in the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Many school professionals have been linking the benefits of animal assisted therapy to a classroom setting with a belief that animals can provide many educational, emotional, and physical benefits to students (Siegel, 2004). Therefore, having such a high interest and passion towards the issue of animal welfare, I decided to research the topic of animals in the classroom and how they benefit students.

For my senior seminar course for Sociology I conducted a study called, Animals in Education: Attitudes of Future Teachers Towards Animals in the Classroom, where I surveyed seventy-two undergraduate and graduate students from Russell Sage College majoring in education. The survey analyzed the students’ beliefs about incorporating animals into a classroom. From this study, I found out that many of the students were open to the idea of incorporating animals into their future classrooms. Although, many prospective educators would like to incorporate animals, it is rarely seen throughout school districts. This is mainly for the fear of allergies, bites or scratches, and cleanliness (Anderson, 2007).

As stated before, there are numerous benefits having animals in one’s classroom and many ways to include them into one’s school curriculum. For example, the program Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) allows certified therapy dogs to come in to schools and accompany children while they read. This has been shown to ease children’s fear of reading out loud and improves reading skills (Renck, 2005). In addition, animals have also known to be incorporated into school counselors’ offices. This technique has been shown to make students open up and discuss their issues having the animal act as a bridge between the student and counselor (Flom, 2005). And lastly, animals in a general education classroom, speech therapy classroom, physical or occupational therapy classroom, or special education classroom are known to provide students with unique experiences teaching them about the environment, animal welfare, responsibility, friendship, and nurturance (Siegel, 2004). Animals are also known to create a community within a classroom and bring the teacher and students together on many levels. If passionate enough to incorporate animals into a school curriculum, there are endless possibilities, resources, tips, and techniques discussing how to go about doing it.

For more information about incorporating animals into a classroom, visit:

Delta Society: The Human – Animal Health Connection

Intermountain Therapy Animals

SPCA Humane Education Department: Animals in the Classroom! Why Not?

Teach Kind