Dear All,
I lived with a cat for 10 years, and was amazed by his ability to ‘train’ his human companions. Doting cat ‘owners’ will tell you that the cat trains the owner. In contrast, the
cat is much more of an independent learner.
Our cat used to practice different meow sounds to test which was going to be the most effecting at getting human attention. So it was very much a case of learning from experimentation.
He was very aware of human routines, which he was sometimes willing to go along with. For example, he knew he was not allowed to stay outside at night, and most of the time would come in when we called him in the evening and he would settle down. But there
were other times when he chose to resist in quite creative ways.
Cat behaviour, like human, is relational, and is also influenced by territory. We would cat sit for friends’ cats, and vis versa. If the other cats came to our house, our cat would
take on the role of top cat, but would be submissive in the other cats’ house.
When humans are the people imposing a change of territory, it is not as straight forward as a cat straying into another cat’s patch, the incoming cat has to learn how to negotiate
the humans’ rules/routines that come with the change of territory. Observing these relational role changes provides a great insight into the information processing that the cats are engaged in. It is too simplistic to say that their behaviour change is the
result of an automotive trigger to a new environment. As with human who do not know the rules in a new social setting, they start off cautiously and build confidence as they learn the situated practices in the new setting.
Best wishes,
Allyson
Dr Allyson Noble
Effective Learning Advisor
Heriot-Watt University, Dubai Campus
PO Box: 294345, Dubai, UAE
From: learning development in higher education network [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Jayne Richards
Sent: 17 July 2018 09:19
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hoping folk think these questions of relevance/interest - can dogs be educated? can dogs be educators?
Great debate!
It is not just dogs - my cats display similar skills which go beyond training or instinct. Yes, routine plays a part but I have noticed how they adapt acquired understanding to develop their means
of communication with me. It is about time we give non-human animals more credit!
Jayne
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From: learning development in higher education network <[log in to unmask]>
on behalf of David Mathew <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2018 8:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hoping folk think these questions of relevance/interest - can dogs be educated? can dogs be educators?
Hello, all.
There is no doubt in my mind that my dog has learned an enormous amount since she came into our lives as a puppy. I agree that some things are indeed trained behaviours, but they
are not the ones that we are talking about it. She has learned certain behaviours that have a good chance of triggering a response, true, but again, I would say that these are different things. My dog has a good vocabulary, an awareness of time and space,
and shows willing to help with tasks – for example, in the garden – that she has not been taught; she uses her transferred skills to help in different contexts.
If she had opposable thumbs, I’d have to pay her a working day’s wage.
Best wishes
David
Dr David Mathew
Centre for Learning Excellence
University of Bedfordshire
From: learning development in higher education network [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Derek.Rowntree
Sent: 16 July 2018 20:46
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hoping folk think these questions of relevance/interest - can dogs be educated? can dogs be educators?
Hi Gordon,
Your question certainly raises some issues about what we mean by ‘education’ (rather than training, conditioning, indoctrinating, brain-washing, etc.)
Clearly, dogs and other creatures can learn from experience (no animate teacher involved) and from systematic training. Sometimes the teacher will be another member of their species (e.g.
their mothers) sometimes a human. But generally what they are learning is to avoid certain behaviours and to respond in set ways to recurring stimuli.
We don’t know what (if anything) they think about these accomplishments and how (if at all) they relate them to other matters of significance to them, and without that I don’t think it
helps to suggest (except ironically) that they are being educated.
Your question also makes one wonder about the extent to which we may be ‘educating’ children and young people in this way also. But that’s another discussion for another day!
Cheers,
Derek
From: learning development in higher education network <[log in to unmask]>
on behalf of Gordon Asher <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 16 July 2018 18:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Hoping folk think these questions of relevance/interest - can dogs be educated? can dogs be educators?
Hi all – hoping folk think this is relevant/of interest (as I do) for the list – as to discussions about what learning (and teaching) is
– and who can learn – and how?
Looking for folks thoughts, on the following questions:
Do you believe that dogs (and/or other animals/species) can be educated?
Further, do you believe they can be educators, not merely learners but teachers?
(relatedly - is there inevitably a teacher, if learning is happening?)
Interested not just in your takes, but how you think these issues are viewed by
- the critical education community
- the mainstream education community
All best
G
Work like you don't need money
Love like you've never been hurt
and dance like no-one's watching
"Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice
of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world." Paulo Freire (Pedagogy of the Oppressed)
"Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it, and by the same token save it from that ruin which except for renewal, except for the
coming of the new and the young, would be inevitable." Hannah Arendt (The Crisis of Education)
"it is impossible to imagine a future unless we have located ourselves in the present and its history; however, the reverse is also true in that we cannot locate ourselves in the present and its
history unless we imagine the future and commit to creating it" (Anna Stetsenko, 2015).
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