Effects of

animals on
children's
development
and on their
perception of
animals
http://www.deshow.net/baby/children-how-to-get-along-with-animals-40.html#pic
Biophilia
hypothesis












by Edward O. Wilson,
1929

Biophilia (love of live,
love for living systems)
= the innate tendency
to focus on life and
lifelike processes

Wilson, 1929, p. 1
http://www.deshow.net/baby/children-how-to-get-along-with-animals-40.html#pic
http://weheartit.com/entry/6111014
Companion animals
(seem to) influence children's emotional,
social, cognitive development positively
(most studies say so), BUT:
Causality dilemma
Validity problems further research/longitudinal
studies needed
Effects on animals?
Endenburg/van Lith 2011
Children and animals
Regulated contact with
animals in therapy or as
companions
positive effect is proven
Some scientist also
claim non-regulated
contact between
animals and children in
wilderness areas (Louv
2008, Kahn/Kellert 2002)
http://www.susanne-fischer-rizzi.de/fs_sem-wildnis.html
Nature Deficit Disorder
How today's children perceive nature is characterized
by trends like:
Severance from food's origins
Machines = humans = animals
Romanticizing
Contact with the wild
BUT: research on the impact of nature experiences on
attention disorders (...) is in its infancy
Louv, "Last Child in the Woods", 2008, p. 19/p. 110


www.heimbach-eifel.de
Contemporary test of the Biophilia hypothesis
Humans have an innate desire to catalog, understand,
and spend time with other life-forms.
but what happens, if there is hardly any natural
contact any more with other life-forms?

Balmford et al. (2002) surveyed 109 UK children aged 4-11 yrs.
by showing them flashcards of
10 types of British wildlife species and
10 Pokmon species



Brown hare
vs. ...

http://www.countryfile.com/tips-
techniques/best-places-
photograph-wildlife-uk

vs. Pikachu
Results Balmford et al. (2002)
mean idenitfication success of wildlife:
32% at age 4, 53% at age 8, then fell slightly.
mean idenitfication success of Pokmon:
7% at age 4, 78% at age 8, older children
typically identifying Pokmon species
substantially better than organisms such as oak
trees or badgers.
The farm as a pedagogical resource

Agricultural University of Norway, 1995: create pedagogical spaces in
which committed, caring and continuous work with nature could go on,
enabling an experience of connection and belonging


Start of the project
1995-2000: Living
schools
Teachers and farmers work
together, develop a 1-year-
plan.

Jolly et al. 2004
http://www.livinglearning.org
/
The farm as a pedagogical resource
Time spent at farms in order to meet
defined subject goals (e.g. observe lifecycles of animals & plants),
but also
general curriculum goals (awareness of environmental questions,
man's role in relationship to domestic animals etc.).
e.g. 3
rd
grade class, farm in
Aurland: sheep-shearing in
autumn, collecting, sorting,
cleaning, combing, weaving of wool;
winter/spring: birth of lambs, follow
sheep to pasture, set out salt
stones, milking.
Jolly et al. 2004
Literatur
Balmford, A./Clegg, L./Coulson, T./Taylor, J., 2002: Why Conservationists Should Heed Pokmon, In: Science 29
March 2002: Vol. 295 no. 5564 p. 2367.
Douglas, Mary, 2010 [1966]: Purity and Danger. An analysis of concept of pollution and taboo, Routledge
Classics, London/New York.
Endenburg, N./van Lith, H.A., 2011: The influence of animals on the development of children, In: The Veterinary
Journal 190 (2011), p. 208-214.
Jolly, L./Krogh, E./Nergaard, T./Parow, K./Verstad, B., 2004: The Farm as a Pedagogical Resource: Background
for and evaluation of the co-operation between agriculture and primary school in the county of Nord-
Trondelag, Norway, In: Cristvao, Artur (ed.): Farming and rural systems research and extension.
Proceedings of the 6
th
European Symposium of the International Farming Systems Association, Vila Real. p.
633-643. http://home.utad.pt/~des/ifsa/ifsa_6th_eu_proceed.pdf
Kahn, Peter H. Jr./Kellert, St. R. (eds.), 2002: Children and nature: psychological, sociocultural and evolutionary
investigations, MIT Press, Boston.
Louv, Richard, 2008: Last Child in the Woods. Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Algonquin
Books of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill.
Wilson, E. O., 1984 [1929]: Biophilia. The human bond with other species, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.