Welcoming Animals into the Classroom
My journey toward social and emotional awareness began like any other: by accident. During a visit one day to the New York Presbyterian Hospital, where I accompanied my therapy dog, Little Dude, for a regular visit to the pediatric ward, a sliding doors moment occurred. A woman chased me into an elevator as the doors were closing, and asked if Little Dude could visit her dying relative. She pleaded to me that her relative was down the hall, laying practically lifeless in his bed, on the doorstep of death, but lived a life full of love for animals. “This would be the last time he ever saw a dog; it would mean so much to us,” she said.
Of course I obliged, and as we proceeded into the room, I witnessed first-hand a dying man, whose color had faded and breath was shallow, as he opened his eyes and reached his arm—complete with intravenous tubes and other monitors—to caress the back of Little Dude’s neck. The man smiled, and his family was present for what had been one of the last happy moments of this man’s life.
This momentary and fateful act of kindness had a significant impact on this man’s entire family, and it opened my eyes to the possibility of helping others in a meaningful way—along with Little Dude.
Thus began my journey to create a social and emotional curriculum, teaching children about being kind to others, having respect and empathy towards one another, as well as having the courage to be wonderful humans. The six-part curriculum, entitled Big World of Little Dude, targeting children ages 3-6, was inspired by the Montessori principle of care of the environment and ideas from grace and courtesy to promote peaceful and cohesive learning experiences.
As Maria Montessori so beautifully articulated, “The child who has felt a strong love for his surroundings and for all living creatures, who has discovered joy and enthusiasm in work, gives us reason to hope that humanity can develop in a new direction.”
Development of a curriculum that focuses on kindness, empathy, courage, feelings, respect, and manners was a challenging and rewarding process, especially when it came to the practical integration of an actual dog. I began with gaining a deep understanding of the cognitive development of a child age 3-6, and I looked to the great educational theorists of our time, including Piaget, Vygotsky, and Montessori. These people were the building blocks of understanding how children navigate learning and growing, as well as learning as experience; activity and a dialogical process; problem-based learning; scaffolding; and inquiry and discovery learning. Retaining information—the purest definition of learning—occurs most effectively through shared experience.
Research was an important component of building a literacy-based curriculum for children. Study was completed with the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation and Colorado University (Boulder). A strong foundation of evidence emerged about the value of teaching kindness to children and the positive outcomes a social and emotional curriculum has on a child’s development. Universities advancing the pathway of social and emotional learning that influenced the development of the Big World of Little Dude
curriculum include:
- Mind and Life Institute
- Making Caring
- Common Project
- Kindness Intentions program
- PATHS education
- National School
- Climate Center
- The Promotion of
- Social Awareness
- National Association of State Boards of Education: Culture and Climate resources
A number of recurring themes emerged, helping to shape the Big World of Little Dude curriculum:
Students have the capacity to learn to be kinder to one another.
There is a positive correlation between social and emotional education and overall academic achievement Social and emotional learning can be formalized Kindness instruction has a lasting impact.
Including a therapy dog as the protagonist and live classroom focal point is the shared experience that the Big World of Little Dude curriculum is built upon, and the primary lessons are taught within the context of a fictitious narrative, featuring a furry, lovable character, Little Dude, and his diverse group of friends. Throughout the Big World of Little Dude, children are able to experience lessons first hand, through a guided narrative within Little Dude’s child-friendly surroundings.
Development of a six-part literacy-based curriculum also gave ample opportunity to cater to different learning styles—to appeal to the broadest audience of students—in order for children to benefit from instruction and learning experiences.
Bringing a comprehensive set of characters, plots, and then classroom-based activities following each story were guided by this differentiated learning approach—reinforced by the great teaching theorists who influenced my career. The classroom activities, which are specified at the end of each book, were developed specifically to appeal to as diverse a set of children’s perspectives, identities, and learning styles as possible. Instructors or parents are guided through the activities, which include learning objectives, suggested approaches, and examples for do-it-yourself classroom engagement to support each lesson or theme.
Incorporating animals in your classroom (or home) is a thoughtful way to promote practical life (care of the environment) as well as grace and courtesy. If you are interested in adopting a pet in your classroom, Pets in the Classroom (www.petsintheclassroom.org) offers grants to teachers to help with the process. Introducing an animal into the classroom environment can create an organic experience of how being kind to animals relates to being kind to others. Preparing the environment for an animal can be an introduction: learning about the animal (its origin, body parts, food habits, etc.), creating the habitat and preparing for the grooming and physical needs. The normalization process can be a slow introduction to the animal, where the children may see the animal, what it is like to be handled, how to feed it and how to touch it. Once students are comfortable, responsibilities can fall on the shoulders of the children with observation and guidance from the teacher.
The experience of bringing Little Dude into classrooms has been overwhelmingly positive and immensely rewarding. Children are engaged and excited to be learning and coexisting alongside an animal in their environment. Montessori said, “The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child’s own natural desire to learn.” Witnessing children scaffolding their own ideas about their relationship to the earth and others is the best gift to receive as an educator.
Tomorrow’s Child / May 2017 / p 10
