WAN Home
Humane Education
From the animal protection perspective, humane education is the long-term preventative strategy that will bring about a lasting, large-scale improvement in the quality of animals' lives. It can be an effective - and relatively low cost - strategy for dealing with animal abuse.
Contents:
- Resources Available
- The Need for Humane Education
- Formal Humane Education (Schools, etc.)
- Non-Formal Humane Education (Campaigns, etc.)
Aim
The aim of Humane Education is to create a culture of empathy and caring by stimulating the moral development of individuals to form a compassionate, responsible and just society. It is a means of introducing children to the reactions and emotions of animals, as well as linking this to an understanding of environmental issues and ecosystems.
Definition
Humane Education can be defined as "a process that encourages an understanding of the need for compassion and respect for people, animals and the environment and recognises the interdependence of all living things."
Methods
Humane Education can be delivered in numerous different ways including non-formal methods such as campaigning, or the more obvious and more formal approach used in schools. Changes in attitude and behaviour have been successfully achieved as a result of powerful campaigns which are a way of bringing awareness to specific issues relatively quickly. Because of its long-term effectiveness, formal Humane Education in schools is especially important since this is the way to develop caring attitudes for the next generation of citizens.
