Education Commons^™

Increasing Student Engagement Through Animal Welfare Education And Service, Stephanie Itle-Clark

Stephanie Itle-Clark, EdD, CHES

Student engagement is for the most part driven by three factors, “underlying need for competence, the extent to which students experience membership in the school, and the authenticity” of the task they are given. Animal welfare education and correlated service‐learning can address all three of these factors. In addition, for the many students who have traditionally written‐off school and school sponsored functions, personal and authentic learning can assist in rebuilding trust in the educational system. Authentic learning built around animal welfare education and animal welfare topics that impact the real world or personal neighborhoods of students encourages brain growth and …