Animal Encounters in Environmental Education Research - Responding to the “Question of the Animal”

Oct 15, 2026

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“Question of the Animal” frames an emergent concern within environmental education research, foregrounding critical scrutiny of human-animal relations and animal advocacy. Drawing on dialogue from the 10th Seminar in Health and Environmental Education Research, the paper shares author experiences, challenges, and insights on unsettling a rigid human/animal divide, conducting respectful inquiry involving nonhuman animals, and reorienting research beyond Western humanism to effect change for the more-than-human world.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Making a Difference

Animal studies and the animal question

Moving beyond Western humanism

Animal Encounters in Environmental Education Research: Responding to the “Question of the Animal” Jan Oakley, Lakehead University, Canada; Gavan P. L. Watson, York University, Canada; Constance L. Russell, Lakehead University, Canada; Amy Cutter-Mackenzie, Monash University, Australia; Leesa Fawcett, York University, Canada; Gail Kuhl, Lakehead University, Canada; Joshua Russell, York University, Canada; Marlon van der Waal, Wageningen University, The Netherlands; Traci Warkentin, Hunter College, United States Abstract The “question of the animal” represents an area of emergent interest in the environmental education field, as researchers critically consider human-animal relations and animal advocacy in their work. Following a group discussion at the 10th Seminar in Health and Environmental Education Research, the authors of this paper share experiences, challenges, and insights related to disrupting the human/ animal divide, conducting respectful research involving nonhuman animals, and producing research that moves beyond Western humanism and aims to make a difference to the more-than-human world. Résumé La « question animale » constitue un nouveau champ d’intérêt dans le domainede l’éducation environnementale, où les chercheurs examinent d’un œil critique les relations entre les humains et les animaux ainsi que la défense des droits des animaux. À la suite d’une discussion de groupe lors du colloque intitulé 10th Seminar in Health and Environmental Education Research (10e colloque sur la recherche en éducation relative à la santé et à l’environnement), les auteurs del’article exposent expériences, défis et réflexions par rapport au bouleversement du clivage entre l’humain et l’animal, aux tests respectueux sur des animaux non-humainset à l’élaboration de recherches transcendant l’humanisme occidental et visant à améliorer la situation de ce monde qui est beaucoup plus que seulementhumain. Keywords: animal studies, human-animal relations, environmental education research 86 Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 15, 2010 Ottawa River, Montebello, Québec Figure 1. Canada goose. © 2008 Gavan P.L. Watson They numbered in the hundreds, and if you could count all of the migrants along the length of the Ottawa River, there were likely thousands of them. Canada Geese floated in rafts of dozens, some coming close to the side of the river, but most hundreds of metres away. The river here is more like a lake: over a kilometre wide, and seemingly endless in its length, giving the geese ample room to spread out. Regardless of their density, they could be easily heard: their characteristic honks permeated the air and collapsed the space between their physical presence and our own. The geese were here, in early May 2009, as part of the migratory population of geese that overwinter in south-eastern North America and nest on the tundra of the eastern Arctic. Over the course of the three days spent beside the Ottawa River, the geese flocked up and dissipated; this morning, calls and the whooshing of wings grew in volume as a long line of birds approached and flew overhead, continuing their annual journey to breeding grounds. In the same low morning sun alongside the Ottawa River and underneath the organic lines of departing birds, we, a group of environmental education researchers invited to the 10th Seminar in Health and Environmental Education Research, sat in a circle.1 Eager to blur the lines that have so often been drawn between the human and more-than-human world (Abram, 1996)—and interested as well in enjoying the beautiful morning by the river—we opted to meet outdoors for our discussion. There, with geese honking overhead, we ruminatedon a topic of interest to all of us: How can we move beyond the human in environmental education research? 2 Animal Encounters in Environmental Education Research 87 Making a Difference The theme of the three-day seminar was Making a Difference: The Opportunities

FAQs

What is the “question of the animal” in environmental education research?

It is an emergent area of interest that prompts critical examination of human-animal relations and animal advocacy within research practice.

How does the paper connect to the 10th Seminar in Health and Environmental Education Research?

It draws on a group discussion from the seminar to describe experiences, challenges, and insights about conducting research with nonhuman animals.

What does the paper aim to change in the field through this line of research?

It seeks to disrupt the human/animal divide and move research beyond Western humanism to make a meaningful difference for the more-than-human world.

Oct 15, 2026

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