THIS LITERATURE REVIEW PRESENTS the case for acknowledging the animal in early childhood settings as the fourth educator. This idea builds on the work of Malaguzzi (1998), who proposed the environment as third teacher. Drawing on a range of research as well as changing perspectives about the animal and child relationship, the literature presented here argues for the animal to be considered respectfully as a pedagogical support and motivator for learning. The review covers interdisciplinary aspects of the field of human and animal relationships and also draws on new work about animals in mechanical/robot form. These animal and machine intersections come together in posthuman theory. The review highlights opportunities for research in this increasingly important area.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlachH. (2003). Furry, feathered, finned or feral: Pets in early childhood settings. The First Years: Na Tau Tuatahi. New Zealand Journal of Infant and Toddler Education, 5(1), 25–27.
2.
BoneJ. (2010). Play and metamorphosis: Spirituality in early childhood settings. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 12(4), 420–417.
3.
BoneJ. (2011). Love and creatureliness in the preschool. Paper presented at the 19th Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education Conference, Politics of Care: Sharing Knowledges, Love and Solidarity. University of East London: 25–29 October.
4.
BartkowskiF. (2008). Kissing cousins: A new kinship bestiary.New York: Columbia University Press.
5.
BirdD. R. (1993). Dingo makes us human: Life and land in an Australian Aboriginal culture.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6.
BlaiseM. (2011). New maps for old terrain: Creating a postdevelopmental logic of gender and sexuality in the early years. In BrookerL. & EdwardsS. (Eds.) Engaging play (pp. 80–96). Maidenhead, Berks: Open University Press.
7.
DaveyG. (2006). Visitor behaviour in zoos: A review. Anthrozoös, 19(2), 143–157.
8.
DeLoacheJ. S., PickardM. B. & LoBueV. (2011). How very young children think about animals. In McCardleP., McCuneS., GriffinJ. A. & MaholmesV. (Eds), How animals affect us: Examining the influence of human-animal interaction on child development and human health (pp. 84–101). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
9.
DuhnI. (2012). Places for pedagogies: Pedagogies for places. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 13(2), 99–106.
10.
ErgazakiM. & AndriotouE. (2009). From ‘forest fires’ and ‘hunting‘ to disturbing ‘habitats’ and ‘food chains’: Do young children come up with any ecological interpretations of human interventions within a forest?Research in Science Education, 40, 187–201.
11.
FlanneryT. (2012). After the future: Australia's new extinction crisis. Quarterly Essay, 48(4), 1–81.
12.
FriesenL. (2010). Exploring animal-assisted programmes with children in school and therapeutic contexts. Early Childhood Education, 37, 261–267.
13.
GaitaR. (2002). The philosopher's dog.Melbourne: Text Publishing.
14.
GaneaP. A., DeLoachJ. S. & MaL. (2011). Young children's learning and transfer of biological information from picture books to real animals. Child Development, 82(5), 1421–1433.
15.
GeeN. R., CristE. N. & CarrD. N. (2010). Preschool children require fewer instructional prompts to perform a memory task in the presence of a dog. Anthrozoös, 23(2), 173–184.
16.
GiugniM. (2011). ‘Becoming worldly with’: Encounters with the Early Years Learning Framework. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 12(1), 11–27.
17.
GrayP. B. & YoungS. M. (2011). Human-pet dymamics in cross-cultural perspectives. Anthrozoös, 24(1), 17–30.
18.
GrandinT. (2006). Thinking in pictures: And other reports from my life with autism.London: Bloomsbury.
19.
GreifM. L., NelsonD. G. K., KeilF. C. & GutierrezF. (2006). What do children want to know about animals and artefacts?Psychological Science, 17(6), 455–459.
20.
HarawayD. (2003). The companion species manifesto.Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press.
21.
HarawayD. (2008). When species meet.Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
22.
HerzogH. (2011). Some we love, some we hate, some we eat: Why it's so hard to think straight about animals.New York: Harper Perennial.
23.
HussarK. M. & HarrisP. L. (2009). Children who choose not to eat meat: A study of early moral decision-making. Social Development, 19(3), 627–641.
24.
JalongoM. R. (2008). Beyond a pets theme: Teaching young children to interact safely with dogs. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36, 39–45.
25.
JenkinsM. (2007). Ape.London: Walker Books.
26.
JipsonJ. L. & GelmanS. A. (2007). Robots and rodents: Children's inferences about living and non-living kinds. Child Development, 78(6), 1675–1688.
27.
KahnP. H. (1997). Developmental psychology and the biophilia hypothesis: Children's affiliations with nature. Developmental Review, 17, 1–61.
28.
KrienA. (2012). Us and them: On the importance of animals. Quarterly Essay, 45. 1–86.
29.
LouvR. (2008). Last child in the woods. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin.
30.
LukE. S. U., StaigerL. & MatthaiW.J. (1999). Children who are cruel to animals: A revisit. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Child Psychiatry, 33, 29–36.
31.
MadridS. & KantorR. (2009). Being kitties in a preschool classroom: Maintaining group harmony and acting proper in a female peer-culture play routine. Ethnography and Education, 4(2), 229–247.
32.
MalaguzziL. (1998). History, ideas, and basic philosophy: An interview with Leila Gandini. In EdwardsC., GandiniL. & FormanG. (Eds) The hundred languages of children (pp. 49–97). Westport, CT: Ablex.
33.
MargettT. E. & WitheringtonD. C. (2011). The nature of preschoolers' concepts of living and artificial objects. Child Development, 82(6), 2067–2082.
34.
MartinF. & FarnumJ. (2002). Animal-assisted therapies for children with pervasive developmental disorders. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 24(6), 657–670.
35.
MeadanH. & JegatheesonB. (2010). Classroom pets and young children, 65(3), 70–77.
36.
MelsonG. F. (2001). Why the wild things are: Animals in the lives of children.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
37.
MyersG. (2007). The significance of children and animals: Social development and our connections to other species. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press.
38.
MyersO. E., SaundersC. D. & GarrettE. (2004). What do children think animals need? Developmental trends. Environmental Education Research, 10(4), 545–562.
39.
OliverK. (2009). Animal lessons: How they teach us to be human.New York: Columbia University Press.
40.
PanA., SunQ., BernsteinA.M., SchulzeM.B., MansonJ. E., StampferM. J., WillettW. C. & HuF. B. (2012). Red meat consumption and mortality: Results from 2 prospective cohort studies. Archives of Internal Medicine, 172(7), 555–563.
41.
PottsA. (2012). Chicken.London: Reaktion.
42.
ProkopP. & TunnicliffeS. D. (2010). Effects of having pets at home on children's attitudes toward popular and unpopular animals. Anthrozoös, 23(1), 21–35.
43.
Risley-CurtissC. (2010). Social work practitioners and the human-companion animal bond: A national study. Social Work, 32(1), 38–46.
44.
RothR. (2009). That's why we don't eat animals.Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
45.
SerpellJ. A. (1999). In the company of animals.Oxford: Blackwell.
46.
SerpellJ. A. (2000). Creatures of the unconscious: Companion animals as mediators. In PodberscekA. L., PaulE. S. & SerpellJ. A. (Eds), Companion animals and us: Exploring the relationships between people and pets (pp. 108–125). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
TanakaF., CicourelA. & MouvellanJ. R. (2007). Socialisation between toddlers and robots at an early childhood education centre. PNAS, 104(46), 17954–17958.
49.
TaylorA., BlaiseM. & GiugniM. (2012). Haraway's ‘bag lady storytelling’: Relocating childhood and learning within a ‘posthuman landscape’. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. http: doi. 10.1080/01596306.2012.698863.
50.
TipperB. (2011). ‘A dog who I know quite well’: Everyday relationships between children and animals. Children's Geographies, 9 (2), 145–165.
51.
ThompsonK.L. & GulloneE. (2003). Promotion of empathy and prosocial behaviour in children through humane education. Australian Psychologist, 38(3), 175–182.
52.
ThriftN. (2012). Electric animals: New models of everyday life?Cultural Studies, 18(2-3), 461–482.
53.
TunnecliffeS. D. & ReissM. J. (2000). What sense do children make of three-dimensional, life-sized ‘representations’ of animals?School Science and Mathematics, 100(3), 128–137.
54.
WalshF. (2009). Human-animal bonds II: The role of pets in family systems and family therapy. Family Process, 48(4), 481–499.
55.
WilsonE. O. (1984). Biophilia.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
56.
WilliamsV. M., DaleA. R., ClarkeN. & GarrettN. K. G. (2008). Animal abuse and family violence: Survey on the recognition of animal abuse by veterinarians in New Zealand and their understanding of the correlation between animal abuse and human violence. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 56(1), 21–28.
57.
YoungT. C. (2009). ‘The crack where the light gets in’: An examination of sustainable education in early childhood education. Unpublished Masters Thesis. Monash University.
58.
ZasloffR. L. (1996). Measuring attachment to companion animals: A dog is not a cat is not a bird. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 47, 43–48.
