Abstract

Nonhuman animals and human-animal relationships have so far attracted very little interest among educational scientists. However, from the perspective of human-animal studies, the strong impact of education, learning, and socialization on the continuous reproduction of culturally formed human-animal relationships suggests a rich and important research area for educational science. Educational science has neglected nonhuman beings as participants in learning environments and victims of the end result of human education. It has also failed to deconstruct the anthropocentric basis of mainstream educational theory, its understanding of learning and teaching, and the meaning of being human. Building on Martin Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, a relational approach in educational theory was developed that integrates nonhuman animals and sees the aim of education in fostering the growth of whole persons in relationships in a more than human world.