Animal Therapy Dog In The Classroom

There has also been research conducted on the effects of Animal-Assisted therapy among young children and preschool children in school. Janlongo et al (2004) and Gee et al (2007) both looked at how the role of therapy dogs helped children’s learning in the classroom. However Gee et al (2007) specifically looked at how the role of therapy dogs in helping children with their speed and accuracy in completing motor skill tasks. Their study explored the affect that a therapy dog’s presence would have performance on a set of motor skill tasks in school aged children (Gee et al, 2007). The study looked at 14 children between the ages of four and six, and found that the presence of a dog served as an effective motivator for increasing children’s accuracy …show more content…
Daly & Suggs (2010) did a study where they looked at the teachers’ experiences and thoughts about the use of animals in the classroom. Seventy five elementary school teachers were interviewed, and they revealed the way the animals were used in their teaching practices, and the advantages of having them in the classroom (Daly & Suggs, 2010). It was found that having pets in the classroom helped to increase students empathy as well as their socio-emotional development (Daly & Suggs, 2010). Faver (2010), also found benefits of using animals in the classroom, however they looked at a different area. Faver (2010) wanted to find out if school-based humane education could be used as a strategy to prevent violence in children when they become older. Overall it has been proven due to previous research that children who are cruel to animals can be at risk of engaging in human directed aggression either in adolescence or early adulthood (Faver, 2010). The study found that the use of humane education programs in school reduced children’s chances of being aggressive toward animals and people, because the program taught them respect, kindness, and compassion toward all things, which resulted in them developing empathy of all things (Faver, 2010). It was also discovered that not only did the programs prevent violence but it also increased the chances of being able to detect and intervene in children exhibiting early stages of violence (Faver, 2010). Tardif-William & Bosaki (2015), also look at the impact on humane education, their study specifically looks at the impact of a summer based humane education program on school aged children’s relationships with companion animals. The 5 day program looked at promoted positive interactions between the children and animals in a natural setting, and overall it was found that