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SPCA Auckland

To change the hearts and minds of an entire generation SPCA Auckland has taken an evidence based approach to the design and construction of their exciting new animal welfare education programme.

SPCA Auckland's animal welfare education programme has been uniquely designed to integrate into the New Zealand Curriculum subjects our schools teach - making animal welfare a real-life, meaningful context to apply and learn these subjects through.

SPCA Auckland's engaging NZ Curriculum aligned programme develops the knowledge and understandings needed to create empathy, compassion, respect and justice for the lives of all animals.  Given the correlation between human violence and animal cruelty, SPCA Auckland recognises that their programme will not only improve the world for animals, but for humans as well.

When combined with effective teaching practices our pilot study has proved SPCA Auckland's resources will:

• Develop students' knowledge and understandings of animal welfare concepts such as:
- the five freedoms / the needs of animals
- animals as sentient beings
- responsible pet ownership
- how human activity can affect animals and their welfare
- the social and ethical dilemmas surrounding the scientific and commercial use of animals
- how animals can be protected at local, national and global levels

• Support students' social and emotional development - By exploring the shared needs of both humans and animals
- Identifying the emotions and feelings that both humans and animals experience in association with these needs
- Exploring how these emotions are expressed (in often identical ways).

• Develop students' core values
- By encouraging empathy, compassion, a sense of responsibility and duty of care for animals. Students may be empowered to make decisions and take action as responsible citizens – a vital component for making our world a better place to live.

• Support teaching and learning of the New Zealand Curriculum Learning Areas
- Real learning requires active engagement and interaction in the process. SPCA Auckland's animal welfare resources provide teachers and learners with an authentic context to explore the New Zealand Curriculum. The use of meaningful, real-life contexts for learning enable students to better understand how they learn, how life contexts offer opportunities to learn, and therefore, how to continue learning outside of the school setting.

• Support citizenship education - a topic embedded in the principles, values and key competencies of The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC)
- By learning about and supporting charities and other non-profit organisations who make significant, positive contributions to their community

For more information please contact the team at Auckland SPCA directly on