Non-anthropocentric reasoning in children: its incidence when they are confronted with ecological dilemmas

António Almeida (1) , Clara Maria Vasconcelos (2) , Orlando Strecht-Ribeiro (3) , Joana Torres (4)

1 Geology / Science Education
2 Geology
3 Language and Social Sciences
4 Universidade do Porto = University of Porto

This study used an individual structured interview to (1) verify the incidence of non-anthropocentric reasoning in 123 children attending the 3rd and 4th years in three primary schools in the Lisbon area (Portugal), when they are confronted with ecological dilemmas and (2) establish those places they frequented which permit animal contact. The results show a greater incidence of non-anthropocentric reasoning than that obtained in other international studies. This may be related to the focus of the questions asked, which invited children to imagine themselves as another animal or to present situations where human interaction is unfair. This incidence was found independently of gender, school origin and whether or not pets were owned, even with the more biologically complex animals. School year was the only variable proven to make a difference in conceptually more demanding questions. We also verified that the children's general past experience of nature is essentially aligned to "controlled environments depending ongoing human management", confirming a decline in direct contact with "natural and semi-natural environments". However, this type of experience does not seem to exert a negative influence on their non-anthropocentric reasoning.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Domaines: Education

António Almeida, Clara Maria Vasconcelos, Orlando Strecht-Ribeiro, Joana Torres. Non-anthropocentric reasoning in children: its incidence when they are confronted with ecological dilemmas. International Journal of Science Education, 2011, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/09500693.2011.608387⟩. ⟨hal-00724887⟩