School Days Series #4: Looking for Solutions to Creating a Compassionate Educational Experience

Listen to this show here!

This is the 4th and final show of our School Days series. (You can find the other 3 shows in the series here) This last show continues to explore how we can create a more compassionate and cruelty-free educational environment.

The show features interviews with Early Childhood Educator, Mallory Boult; National Programs Director of Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, Monica Chen and grade 8 student Soleilla Denomme.

Mallory Boult Discusses the Indoctrination to Speciesism in Young Children

Mallory Boult has a Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Education and is passionate about teaching children from babies and up to four years old. Mallory discusses what she has observed while working with children in the Early Childhood Education facility at Aukland University, New Zealand.

Children learn through language and observation. They pick up on the commonly held beliefs that are shared with them, including the preference of killing insects and the idea that other living beings are for our use. Compassionate children can be driven to become willfully ignorant of the underlying suffering that they may cause.

Grade 8 Student, Soleilla Denomme, Speaks on Living Your Values in School

Soleilla Denomme is a Grade 8 student in a Vancouver high school. She tells the story of how she bravely and publicly stood up against dissecting a cow’s eye in her science class. Her stand initiated a discussion between herself, her teacher, her classmates on the ethics of dissection. She speaks about her experience as a student who is affected by the aspects of her school life that conflict with her personal ethics as a vegan.

Monica Chen of Factory Farming Awareness Coalition on Changing Society with Education about Factory Farms

Monica Chen is the National Programs Director, of Factory Farming Awareness Coalition (FFAC). She has a Master’s Degree in Education and varied experience with students in elementary, middle, and high school levels, as well as in the prison system and in residential environmental education.

Monica defines factory farming as concentrated animal feeding operations, including family-run companies, where animals live in concentrated facilities created for maximum production and profits. Factory Farming Awareness Coalition creates presentations that are relevant to topics that their audience is already invested in, creating meaningful connections between preexisting interests and compassion for animals. These discussions help emphasize the connection between social justice and animal treatment.

All presentations done by Factory Farming Awareness Coalition are completely free to the schools. The Socratic style of their presentations encourages students to question and to find solutions. Presentations are based on science, not emotions, and citations are accessible from their site.

Factory Farming Awareness Coalition also has internship opportunities for students online through Google Hangouts. Schools and organizations in Canada can schedule presentations in Vancouver, Toronto, and any other location with an internet connection, or receive a recorded video of the presentation on their website. Contact Monica through FFAC’s website for more information.