Animal Welfare Issues in Geography and Environmental Education: Some British Historical Perspectives

The focus of this paper is on animal welfare shown, at least in the British case, to have loomed much larger as a theme in the curricula of earlier days, and to have been sidelined in recent decades in comparison with more abstract global problems: biodiversity, sustainability and the like. Among other things, the pedagogical difficulties posed by this preoccupation are indicated. It is suggested also that while latter-day geographical and environmental educationists have been at pains to claim to be covering controversial and complicated values issues, these tend to be distant from the experience and understanding of many pupils. This in turn is seen as making it easier for them to evade taking personal responsibility, and to pass the buck elsewhere. It is maintained that the onus for drawing attention to animal welfare/rights issues appears to have been left by educationists to outside pressure groups and the media. At the same time, it is recognised that the passions engendered by the high public profile and attendant polarisation of animal welfare/rights issues have made their introduction into school curricula more problematic. It is argued, however, that this does not justify their neglect. Positive if cautious approval is given to the agenda proposed by David Selby for bringing animal welfare issues back into the curriculum.