Impact of Therapy Dogs on Students' and Teachers' Moods in an Inner-City School

Autor/in	Van Schoick, Vanessa
Titel	Impact of Therapy Dogs on Students' and Teachers' Moods in an Inner-City School
Quelle	(2021), (114 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit Ed.D. Dissertation, Northcentral University
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
ISBN	979-8-7906-6432-8
Schlagwörter	Hochschulschrift; Dissertation; Urban Schools; Barriers; Student Needs; Poverty; Racial Segregation; Racial Discrimination; Social Discrimination; Low Achievement; Psychological Patterns; Animals; Therapy; Program Effectiveness; Elementary Secondary Education; Attendance; Inclusion; Grades (Scholastic) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Thesis; Dissertations; Academic thesis; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Armut; Rassentrennung; Racial bias; Rassismus; Soziale Benachteiligung; Soziale Schließung; Unterdurchschnittliche Leistung; Animal; Tier; Tiere; Therapie; Anwesenheit; Inklusion; Notenspiegel
Abstract	Educators in inner-city schools face many challenges in meeting the needs of students. Examples of such issues that are specific to urban public schools include poverty, ethnic segregation, broad-spectrum discrimination, poor policies, low student performance, inexperienced teaching staff, and low expectations of students. The general problem is that the negative moods of inner-city school students affect their success in school, and it is difficult to find methods that can improve these students' moods by reinforcing positive changes. Dog therapy is one method that has been shown to improve students' well-being. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore whether teachers and students in an inner-city public school in California believed therapy dogs helped to improve their moods. The study was conducted over a 6-week period and included four methods of collecting data from six teachers including, interviews focus groups, observations, and student paragraphs. The students involved in the study ranged from grades K-12. Data were analyzed manually for themes, categories, and patterns. The findings indicate students' and teachers' moods improved noticeably when the dogs were present. Implications are that dog therapy could potentially reduce suspensions and dropouts if introduced in inner-city schools. Recommendations for practice include investing in dog therapy as part of social and emotional learning, making therapy dogs available, and bringing educators' personal dogs to school, or at a minimum, using a community dog therapy program. Increasing the number of studies using therapy dogs could contribute to inclusion, better attendance, and grades and may be effective in helping educators improve the general well-being of their students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.] (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01