Understanding of animal behaviour creates positive attitude towards animals.why?
Answers
Wildlife education enables children to understand the importance of including animals in their view of the Earth. Wildlife education "should result in positive changes in knowledge, attitudes, awareness, and actions toward wildlife" (Morgan & Gramann, 1989). "Since attitudes encompass both feelings and beliefs, they have both affective and cognitive components. Feelings and beliefs are generally directed toward decision-making, and therefore are important elements of perception" (LaHart, 1978). Perceptions influence the way individuals evaluate the external world. An examination of the sources where children are learning about wildlife can determine whether this type of education is taking place.
Most academic sources, in general, focus on the knowledge component of wildlife education. "Learning about animals in school appears to be so divorced from direct encounters with animals in their natural habitats that little basic understanding and lasting knowledge results" (Kellert & Westervelt, 1983). Encyclopedias and related books include factual information about animals. Some may include drawings or pictures, but basically the information is presented in a rather uninteresting way for children, particularly those who are not already interested in the topic of wildlife. Most children's storybooks personify animals, they do not educate about real animals in their natural habitats. Newspaper coverage of wild animals, except those articles which focus on human based events, is minimal to non-existent.
Our opportunity for exposure to wild and international animals is limited to visiting a zoo. Although the primary reason cited for visiting a zoo is for the educational benefit of children, Kellert (1980) has shown that the resulting knowledge scores of those who had visited a zoo were not significantly different from those of non-visitors. Morgan and Gramann feel that "zoological parks, classrooms, and wildlife sanctuaries are places where animals often are 'merely exposed' to onlookers" (1989). Even owning a pet only slightly raises knowledge scores (Kellert, 1980, Ascione, 1992).
However, those who belonged to wildlife and/or environmental organizations or who watched animal-related television programs had significantly higher knowledge scores then any other group studied. Therefore, wildlife-oriented activities appear important in the development of knowledge (Westervelt & Llewellyn, 1985, LaHart, 1978, and Eagles & Muffitt, 1990). It may be that regular learning about wildlife in their natural habitat results is linked with a responsibility towards these animals and a preservation of their habitats. This type of awareness may result in higher knowledge scores, compared with more isolated types of learning experiences such as visiting a zoo. Learning about animals in their natural habitat may result in higher knowledge scores than would lessons on animals in school because they consist mainly of animals in the classroom or experiments in science class, which can result in limited knowledge about a few specific animals.
Most academic sources, in general, focus on the knowledge component of wildlife education. "Learning about animals in school appears to be so divorced from direct encounters with animals in their natural habitats that little basic understanding and lasting knowledge results" (Kellert & Westervelt, 1983). Encyclopedias and related books include factual information about animals. Some may include drawings or pictures, but basically the information is presented in a rather uninteresting way for children, particularly those who are not already interested in the topic of wildlife. Most children's storybooks personify animals, they do not educate about real animals in their natural habitats. Newspaper coverage of wild animals, except those articles which focus on human based events, is minimal to non-existent.