SPCA storybooks foster compassion and guardianship

SPCA is investing in education to advance animal welfare and inspire tamariki to be good guardians.

Every year, the SPCA rescues tens of thousands of animals, attends hundreds of animal emergencies, and investigates thousands of animal welfare-related complaints.

SPCA national education manager Nicole Peddie says this, combined with the interconnection between animal welfare, human wellbeing and the environment, highlights the need for educational change.

“This is why the SPCA is investing in education as a key strategy to advance animal welfare and inspire a kinder generation,” she says.

Nicole says the SPCA resources are there to help teachers facilitate learning experiences for children that develop their connection and sense of responsibility for animals, whilst nurturing empathetic, compassionate, and caring attitudes.

Once children have developed these skills and knowledge, they are well-equipped to make informed choices.

“They can recognise their own power to positively impact animals’ lives,” says Nicole.

Storybooks lead conversations

Elmwood Normal School started incorporating several SPCA storybooks into classroom learning last year.

They were originally asked to collaborate with the SPCA, ImpactEd and Microsoft to make a ‘Care and Create Minecraft’ world, which would be used as a resource on the SPCA and Minecraft for Education websites.

Teacher Jo Mottram and her class of Year 6 children were tasked with this project.

“New Zealand has a very high rate of cruelty to animals, and it is important that we teach children how to be responsible pet owners who show compassion and empathy for all animals,” says Jo.

While the children were designing and making the Care and Create Minecraft world, they also read two SPCA books, A Catio for Boris and  Rupert, Purple Circles and the Bell.

The two books focus on animal care and wellbeing, expressed through different animal characters.

“The children were really invested in the stories and felt sorry for the animals. They wanted to create a solution to keep the animals happy and safe.”

Ākonga in Jo’s Year 6 class reading A Catio for Boris.

Curious about catios

Jo explains the situations in each book are “authentic and designed for children to relate to in the real world.”

They include stories about what to feed an animal, how animals cope with fireworks, the role of guide dogs, and the work involved with getting a new pet.

Jo used the books in several ways during her teaching. For example, students read A Catio for Boris in groups, then came back together as a class to discuss what the book was about and why catios are important.

Jo says many children had never heard of a catio and so they looked up different models online.

“The children then researched different types of catios before designing their own ones on paper,” explains Jo.

Next, they designed and built a catio using the Care and Create Minecraft world. Wilj Dekkers from ImpactEd helped guide the children in the Minecraft creations.

Going deeper

As part of the Care and Create Minecraft world project, the class was asked to design and create an aquarium.

The class looked at it from a different perspective, where they designed and made an aquarium that would not be a suitable environment for a goldfish to live in.

“This task was quite challenging as the children automatically wanted to add lovely hiding places and plants. They had to pull back and remember this aquarium was for other children and teachers to use when learning about animal wellbeing,” explains Jo.

After the children created the aquarium, they read the SPCA book Rupert, Purple Circles and the Bell.

Ākonga were then able to add things to the aquarium that changed it into a happy and healthy environment for goldfish to thrive in.

Jo says she kept the books on the classroom’s bookshelf so ākonga could choose to use them during independent reading time.

“The children really enjoy reading the books for pleasure. Reading mileage is really important for the development of reading skills and if children have access to books they enjoy then they are more likely to read for pleasure.”

Since incorporating the SPCA storybooks into her classroom, Jo says the children have a deeper understanding of what animals need to stay happy and healthy.

“They are developing a better understanding of what is involved in being an animal guardian,” she says.

Kaitiakitanga

Students have also learned about the Five Domains Model. This model is composed of the five things an animal kaitiaki needs to consider: nutrition, environment, health, behaviour, and mental wellbeing. 

Jo says ākonga are thinking and reading about things they may not have considered or thought about previously.

“They are able to identify that animals are just like us and need certain things for them to flourish and be happy,” she says.

The ākonga are now researching different animals in their own time. They are wanting to see what natural environments different animals live in, as well as learn about the diverse requirements that different animals need to survive and thrive.

Jo says it’s an important thing for children to develop a deeper understanding of, as different animal species are increasingly being threatened and affected by climate change. 

The books encourage the children to think about the impact humans have on animals, be that positive or negative.

“It’s our hope that our education programme, including these new storybooks, empower the youngest members of our society to think and act for the wellbeing of humans, animals and our natural environment,” says Nicole.

Developing empathy

Jo is seeing the positive impact first-hand, saying the books really help with awareness and developing empathy.

“The children are relating to the characters and problems in the book. They talk about similar situations from their own prior knowledge. They are developing compassion and empathy.”

Nicole says the SPCA is consistently wowed by Jo’s innovative teaching practices.

“Her use of SPCA instructional readers is a fantastic example of how animal welfare and responsible animal guardianship can be used as a rich, engaging and meaningful context to teach a range of curriculum areas and skills.

“It also allows the nurturing of children’s empathy and compassion for the living world, without being anything additional or standalone for teachers to try and fit into their day.”

SPCA have a number of storybooks and animal welfare-themed resources.

Teacher portal

The SPCA has a teacher portal with advice and resources on using the books within the classroom. There is a variety of reading material for all ages, with books available in te reo Māori, Samoan, Tongan and Mandarin. They can also be downloaded as PDFs.

Jo says the portal also provides one-off lessons and unit plans, curriculum links, and other materials and support, including reader response activities for ready-to-read texts, journals and connected articles that feature animals.

“This means teachers can confidently teach the children in their classroom how to become wonderful animal guardians,” explains Jo.

Nicole says the SPCA created these animal welfare-themed resources to help teachers easily integrate the readers into existing classroom programmes.

“The SPCA’s education team know how busy classroom teachers are, so the last thing we want to do is add to their already jam-packed timetables.”

If teachers want to get involved with the SPCA, Nicole says the first step is to look at its education programme.

The next step teachers can take is to encourage their students to investigate and explore the collection of interactive and engaging learning materials on their children’s section, including webinars, videos, animations, photos, information sheets, quizzes, activities to do and things to create.

There’s also an “ask an expert” component to support inquiry learning and students have the option to submit and share their work with other students from all over Aotearoa.  

• Resources for schools and kura are available at spca.nz/teachers(external link).
  
  
• Students can explore child-focused content at
  spca.nz/kids(external link).