EPI•STEM The National Centre of STEM Education at the School of Education University of Limerick welcomes our newest addition to the research team, Calie our wellbeing dog.
There can be no environmental justice or ecological re-worlding without multispecies environmental justice and that means nurturing and inventing enduring multispecies—human and non-human kindreds. Haraway, 2018, p.102.
Calie’s handler in EPI•STEM is Anthony Sweeney, a PhD student in science education who is investigating the multiple roles played by support dogs in classrooms, developing an ethic of care in young people for their emotional, social, cultural, intellectual and transformative development.
For the past six years, Calie worked as a school support dog at the Presentation Secondary School Ballingarry, as a ‘Student Wellbeing Dog’. Calie spent her break and lunch time making new friends and forming bonds with students, particularly those experiencing social isolation. Calie acted as a social mediator. Her non-judgemental, unprejudiced and undiscriminating nature nurtured inclusion, care and diversity. The Junior Cycle Framework added another dimension to Calie’s role, she became the bridge between theory and practice for the short course entitled: “A Personal Project - Caring for Animals”. Calie played a key role during exam time, her natural calming presence providing a sense of comfort, which was hugely beneficial for students who might be feeling overwhelmed or anxious.
While school support dogs are primarily recognised for their work in improving mental health and emotional well-being, they can also be integrated into the Science and STEAM classroom; to foster teaching and learning of science to young people, to support their social-emotional and intellectual growth and to connect students to important scientific concepts.
This enriches students’ understanding of the natural world, nurturing kin-ship for human, non-human and environmental justice and ecological (re)worlding, critical in this epoch often referred to as the Anthropocene. Anthony’s research is seeking new inclusive pedagogies of practice to bring the science education curriculum to life, to inspire a love for nature and to navigate a damaged planet with a new approach to climate action, sustainability and environmental stewardship.
The integration of dogs in STEM education contexts is an area of growing educational research, with universities availing of Animal Assisted Activities to promote academic wellbeing and establish a sense of belonging, through a new type of interdependent affectivity facilitated by the unconditional and empathetic climate created by the support dog.
