Redesigning post-pandemic education: challenges and opportunities for animal pedagogies concerning LOMLOE

Abstract

The way in which we relate to other animals has once again come to the fore, this time in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Human actions directly or indirectly linked to the human-animal relationship contribute to the risk of zoonotic diseases, as well as to other global emergencies such as the climate crisis. However, articulating the questioning of the human-animal relationship exclusively from the perspective of human needs implies turning our backs on the unjustified disadvantageous consideration and treatment of non-human animals in society. In this line, animal rights issues do not occupy a relevant space in the educational context. This article poses an approach to the question of how to redesign teaching and learning about the human-animal relationship in the new regulatory scenario posed by the LOE as amended by the LOMLOE. Firstly, this article justifies the need to consider pedagogical approaches that recognize the ethical and educational implications of animal sentience. Then, the opportunities and limitations posed by different scenarios of pedagogical understanding in relation to the requirements of the "LOMLOE" in terms of respect and empathy towards non-human animals are analyzed.