Cultivating cultural capital with a therapy dog in a third-grade classroom

Abstract

This article examines interactions between humans and animals in an elementary school environment in the south-west of the United States and investigates an under-examined area of social pedagogy, sharing some of the ways that a canine in the classroom can help to improve education. The goal was to co-create community and hold space for young learners to engage with the curriculum in new and innovative ways, drawing on their unique funds of identity and cultural and linguistic capital. The article explores how the involvement of a therapy dog in a third-grade classroom over the course of nine weeks addressed the effects of linguicism and offers examples of a cross-species opportunity to make school more inviting, particularly for students who are segregated based on their language. This work took place in a Title I school in a neighbourhood where many families have low incomes and most children are fluent in languages other than English. These children became teachers and the dog learned to read.

Keywords

• social pedagogy
• human–animal interaction
• linguicism
• teaching a dog to read
• cultural capital