Animal Teachers: Nonhuman Pedagogy and the Question of Deceit

Abstract

Animals as “teachers” of human children and adults is a recurring theme in children's literature, in anthropological accounts of “feral children,” as well as in contemporary practices of animal‐assisted pedagogy, philosophical research, wildlife documentaries, and popular culture. Assigning animals the role as our teachers, with an assumed expectation on them to engage in intersubjective pedagogical relations with humans, contrasts with the exploitative ways they are commonly used in education—as scientific objects, as species representatives, and as food. What educational needs and desires does the figuration animal‐as‐teacher respond to, and what makes narratives of animals as teachers of humans—in fiction and in real life—so compelling? These questions are explored, aided by Patricia MacCormack's concept of gracious pedagogy, and pursued through a range of accounts drawn from science, culture, and education research and practice. Three educational desires are identified to which the animal‐as‐teacher constitutes a response: a desire to build a narrative around education as a benevolent actor toward animals; a desire to affirm that children engage with joy in learning; and a desire to reinstall human exceptionalism. The notion of gracious pedagogy shows that ostensibly benevolent pedagogical practices with animals may be deeply problematic because they emerge from anthropocentric definitions of animals. A meta‐pedagogical task of the animal‐as‐teacher is to assist the flourishing of education on the contradictions it constantly produces.