生命教育遺失的一環：飼養課程中的動物倫理

The Missing Link in Life Education: Animal Ethics in Classroom Animal Care

在國小與幼兒園階段的課程中，飼養動物難免會面對動物倫理的爭議。本文主要內涵為：一、描述兒童親近生物的天性及兒童接近動物的益處；二、討論兒童對待動物方式的道德發展；三、歸納四種教師可能持有的動物倫理取向；四、介紹文獻中倡議動物輔助教育（Animal-Assisted Education, AAE）所應考量的動物倫理。本文建議教師在實施動物輔助教育活動前，應同時考量教師責任、學生學習需求與動物生存權益。教師的專業素養，除了教學專業外，也應對兒童的動物道德發展有所了解，才能理解兒童與動物互動行為背後的想法。此外，教師也應洞察自己的動物倫理取向，檢視自己面對學生學習需求與動物生存權益兩難時的抉擇，並反思自己的動物倫理取向是否足以成為學生的楷模。

The involvement of animals in elementary and preschool classroom settings will inevitably face controversies about animal ethics. This article (1) describes the nature of children’s Biophilia and the benefits for children to approach animals; (2) discusses children’s moral development in children-animal interactions; (3) summarizes four animal ethical orientations held by teachers; (4) introduces the literature advocate animal ethics that should be considered in assisted animal education. This article suggests that before implementing Animal-Assisted Education (AAE) activities, teachers should also consider their responsibilities, students’ learning needs, and animal rights. Teachers should also have an understanding of children’s moral development stages on animal treatment in order to understand the reasonings behind children’s interactions with animals. In addition, teachers should have insights into their own animal ethical orientation, examine their choices when facing conflicts between students’ learning needs and animal rights. Finally, teachers should reflect on whether their animal ethical orientation is sufficient to become a role model for students.