A growing number of schools across the UK are bringing dogs into the classroom to support learning, particularly reading. Yes, dogs! In fact as early as 1999 an American organization called Intermountain Therapy Animals used dogs to support children’s reading and since then international interest has grown and there are now a number of initiatives around the world, including The Bark and Read Foundation in the UK.
But is this a quaint idea or does it have real merit and be worthy of more schools taking it seriously.
One of the main reasons there is growing interest in such initiatives is because of widespread concerns over children’s standards of reading, as indicated by the (PISA) results. In 2016, the UK ranks 21st, below many other European countries, and our average point score fell from 499 to 498 in three years.
Although PISA attracts critics, few would deny that around the UK many children lack motivation and enjoyment when reading and this has an impact on their achievement. Yet the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that students who enjoyed reading the most performed significantly better than those who said that they enjoyed reading the least - over a third stated that they gained no enjoyment from books. Enjoyment of reading is a stronger predictor of success than socio-economic background (Clark and De Zoysa, 2011).
The various reading programmes that use dogs share the principle that reading should be enjoyable. Dogs may provide an incentive for those children reluctant to pick up a book. Why? Well, the dog is a non-judgmental listener, whose very presence may calm and relax reluctant and anxious readers. Well-trained reading dogs make for a patient audience. Dew (2000:199) suggests that the dog brings a nonverbal but collaborative language to the classroom – the dog ‘never expresses himself or his wisdom verbally, but he can speak volumes nonverbally’.
Background
The scheme Burns By Your Side (BBYS) was launched in 2015 with the aim of improving children’s confidence and literacy skills. It is currently active in more than 25 schools, colleges and libraries across south west Wales. It is funded by the Burns Pet Nutrition Foundation, without cost to the school. It has a simple premise – schools identify children who they feel would benefit from some support with their reading, confidence or self-esteem. These children are given the opportunity to read on a weekly or fortnightly basis to a volunteer and their dog, usually in sessions that run over the course of a term. Typically, the volunteer will spend 15 minutes with each child on an individual basis, and keeps short records of the session to note progress.