Nine Ways to Stay Engaged This Summer!
Summer break is (almost) here so we’ve compiled a selection of documentaries, podcasts, books and courses for you to explore during your well-deserved time off. These recommendations cover a variety of topics related to humane education, including the human-animal bond, animal cognition and behaviour, social and emotional learning, Indigenous perspectives and reconciliation. Do you have […]
T-Shirt Design Contest: Artist Spotlight!
This spring the Alberta SPCA is holding a T-Shirt Design Contest for students across Alberta. Three entries will be selected and featured on Alberta SPCA t-shirts that will be made available to purchase. Proceeds from t-shirt sales will go towards helping animals across the province. The entries will be reviewed by three talented Alberta artists […]
Six Ways to Stay Engaged This Summer
With summer break right around the corner, we have a selection of podcasts, documentaries, courses, websites and more for you to explore during your much deserved time off. These recommendations touch on a variety of topics related to humane education including social-emotional learning, animal cognition and behaviour, empathy, Indigenous perspectives! Do you have a resource […]
Rethinking Farm Animal Intelligence: A guide for teachers
If you ask any dog or cat owner if their pet is smart, you will likely get a resounding, ‘Yes!’ We are keenly aware of how clever our companion animals are – and most young people believe pets have their own minds with thoughts and feelings.1 However, when it comes to farm animals, we are less […]
Humane Education Across Alberta
There are a number of humane societies and SPCAs across Alberta that provide humane education programs and opportunities for teachers and students. Opportunities, such as field trips and classroom presentations, give students the chance to see the impact these organizations have in their communities, while learning from local experts. Read the brief descriptions below to […]
Teacher Highlight: Susan Guba
Alberta teacher and human education advocate: Susan Guba, a recently retired teacher, believes humane education plays a vital role in the classroom. Susan has been a long time champion of Alberta SPCA education programs, particularly the book lending program AnimalTales, which helps to build empathy and literacy. Throughout her 15-year teaching career, Susan has taught […]
Humane education… in music?
I recently gave a presentation to a group of teachers on incorporating literature to foster positive attitudes, empathy and knowledge related to animals, people and the environment (humane education!). We discussed how humane education concepts from wide array of books can be woven into many different subject areas from language arts and science to art […]
The promise, some pitfalls, and how to practise EMPATHY
Empathy is our theme for this year and a core focus of humane education. Empathy has been shown to improve communication skills, prosocial behaviours like cooperating, sharing, and helping and reduce bullying. But empathy is complicated as we don’t always apply it equitably to people or animals. This blog dives into the different dimensions of […]
Practising Empathy Using Picture Books
Empathy is a critical life skill that helps us to share, understand and care about the emotions of others. It is also a precursor for compassion – through understanding the perspective and feelings of others, we are more likely to take action to help. Empathy is the theme for this school year, and the seventh […]
Humane Education Professional Development Opportunities
As summer approaches and another school year winds down, we wanted to not only congratulate teachers for making it through this challenging year, but also thank them for all they did to help students grow, learn and adapt over these past nine months. Summer is a time for teachers to take a much needed break, […]