Animal Protection Education is the key to teaching critical thinking and responsible citizenship. Here’s why!

Your students are the next generation of judges, politicians, CEOs, policymakers, lawyers, journalists and artists. They’re the changemakers of tomorrow. As educators, you hope they’ll enter the adult world with the ability to consider, analyse and debate differing perspectives on thought-provoking and relevant topics while questioning for themselves what it means to act with respect, integrity and compassion in our ever-changing world. 

So how can we ensure that students develop the critical thinking skills they need to become responsible citizens?  

Voiceless’s Animal Protection Education (APE) is a ground-breaking pedagogical approach that explores important animal protection and sustainability issues. Following the inquiry learning model, APE encourages students to think critically about various scientific, ethical, political and environmental questions that arise from topics such as dolphins in captivity, the legal status of animals and the science of sentience. The Australian Curriculum’s General Capabilities are embedded into our sequence of learning, with a focus on Personal and Social Capability and Ethical Understanding and all units of work are linked to the cross-curricular priority of Sustainability. 

Our latest suite of free resources explores the topical issue of live animal export by drawing on a range of sources from animal welfare and protection organisations, governmental departments and industry bodies. We utilise professionally developed and beautifully designed fact sheets, videos, worksheets and quizzes to explore questions such as why countries import live animals and how the trade impacts the environment, climate change, economies, and of course the animals themselves. These important questions allow 21^st century learners to become informed and responsible citizens by engaging in critical discourse, analysis and reflection on both local and global issues. Whilst respecting the diverse range of views on live animal export, our teacher guides and lesson plans encourage educators to foster healthy discussions in their classrooms, and we provide the factual and scientific information to help facilitate them. 

Animal Protection Education is the key to teaching critical thinking because it has been expertly designed to do just that!  

Why is the live export trade so controversial? Are fishes sentient? What are the welfare issues raised by dolphin captivity? Why are animals classified as human property under the law? Through analysis, reflection and evaluation, our activities build the essential skill of critical thinking so students can answer these questions for themselves. Voiceless recognises that our youth are the changemakers of tomorrow and we have an obligation to equip them with the tools they need to become informed, responsible and thoughtful citizens. 

Inspire your classroom today by downloading our free Live Export resources here. 

Suitable for Year 9 and 10 students and teachers of English, geography, civics and citizenship, science and visual arts, all of our resources have been designed to be flexible. Where lessons include a range of activities and resources, teachers can select what will work best for their students and omit or adapt where necessary. Our Live Export materials also work well alongside other Animal Protection Education resources, which can be found on the Voiceless Schools page.   

Voiceless, the animal protection institute is an Australian non-profit organisation and the dedicated 

home of Animal Law and Animal Protection Education. Their resources are used by high-school educators around the country who are looking to bring key animal protection issues into the classroom in an age-appropriate and professional manner.  

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