| This thesis presents a multidisciplinary comparative analysis of humane education programs being implemented within three different education fields: animal welfare-based education, environmental education, and character education. The theoretical and practical parallels between humane and experiential education are also explored and, using the humane education program of Best Friends Animal Society as an example, the researcher articulates a rationale for the implementation of a holistic, experiential approach to humane education. After an exhaustive review of the literature, the researcher provides a critical evaluation of transference theory, which is central to the researcher's conclusion that a more holistic view of humane education, that encompasses the disciplines of environmental and character education as well as animal welfare-based education, is warranted. The researcher's multiple-case study research design, consisting of interviews with the education directors of five local organizations that are implementing humane education programs to K-12 learners, is then explained. Results from these interviews indicate that humane education programs across the three disciplines of animal welfare-based education, environmental education, and character education share similar goals, instructional approaches, and challenges, the most prominent being a lack of assessment tools for measuring student learning and program efficacy. Study findings support the researcher's central assertion that in order for the humane education field to advance and fully achieve its overriding goals, there is a need for humane education theorists and practitioners to recognize the contributions of character education and environmental education to fostering humane values and include them in the scholarly discourse.;Keywords: humane education, experiential education, character education, environmental education, transference theory. |
