What do Children Learn when they Teach a Dog to Read?

Terri and Copper Hlava, Arizona State University and (H.A.B.I.T.A.T.) Human Animal Bond In Teaching And Therapies

This presentation relates an animal-assisted intervention (AAI) in an underserved elementary school in the Southwest US describing how a canine in the classroom can improve education by creating community and holding space for young learners to engage the language curriculum – countering deficit models in favor of children’s unique funds of identity, valuing their linguistic capital. We trace one therapy dog’s nine-week collaboration with 25 third-grade Spanish-dominant students, address the effects of linguicism, and describe a cross-species opportunity to make school more inviting, particularly for young students segregated by English-only laws. This approach builds on emerging scholarship, implementing goal-directed human-animal interactions as a form of social pedagogy (e.g., Fung, 2017; Hallytburton & Hinton, 2017; Hlava, 2013; 2023). Our work is theoretically based in animal-assisted interventions (Gee et al., 2017: Levinson et al., 2017; Mickelsson, 2019), social pedagogy (Johnston, McAuliffe, & Santos, 2015), funds of knowledge (Llopart & Esteban-Guitart, 2017; 2018) and identity (Hogg & Volman, 2020) with marginalized students in subtractive schooling environments (Valenzuela, 2005). So we are optimistic about the potential, encouraged by the results, and happy to share how these students taught a six-year-old Labrador retriever to read – yes, read – and taught us even more in the process.
Our presentation centers on relationships - the trusting bond between children and dogs, and we in
corporate social justice principles by encouraging these relationships in low-income schools where children face language-based discrimination. Breaking from traditional student roles, the children lead the way, plan lessons, and teach the dog to read. These activities incorporate each of the 13 values as children work together, build community, and share their love of learning with each other and with their canine classmate.