Reshaping Relationships with Fellow Animals in Educational Settings: Moving from Learning About to Learning With — Part I of a Three-Part Series

By: Jennifer Salerno, EdD

Geese are Mean

The first field trip I took as a young child was to Birch Grove Park when I was four. Birch Grove Park was a magical place. There were trees and hiking trails populated with peacocks, ducks, squirrels, and geese, all surrounding a small lake. The park was about 20 minutes from my home on a tiny barrier island in southern New Jersey. The environment on the island was entirely different from the one surrounding the park. On the island, we had sand, bay grass, reeds, and seashells. The air was perpetually filled with the scent of salt water, and the dull roar of waves and seagull cries served as an ever-present soundtrack. There were very few trees, and instead of squirrels, ducks, and geese, there were jellyfish, crabs, starfish, and clams.

Arriving at a place covered by a canopy of leafy green trees, with squirrels, peacocks, and geese roaming freely, felt like being transported from Kansas to Oz. Four-year-old me was jumping out of my skin to be part of it. When I got out of the car, I could smell the trees and the earth. It was glorious. I ran to the benches bordering the lake as a handful of domestic geese walked toward me. They were white with orange bills and seemed quite large. As I got closer, I realized they weren't walking toward me; they were walking at me, their necks outstretched, honking loudly. Before I knew it, the geese were in my space. A teacher ran over and shooed them away. "Geese are mean. Stay away from them," she remarked as she continued to scare them away. I wasn't frightened until my teacher warned me that they were mean and I should keep my distance.

Questioning My Assumptions

Fast-forward a few decades to the present day. I recently purchased a home on the Chesapeake Bay, and a group of five domestic geese visit my house regularly. Whenever I see them, I feel a mix of joy, awe, and fear. My first reaction is to vacate the premises immediately. I hear my preschool teacher's voice in the back of my head, insisting that geese are mean and that I should stay far away from them. Recently, I had an epiphany. Just the other day, I realized that geese are not "mean." The word 'mean' is value-laden and implies intentional cruelty. Geese are territorial, which is entirely different. They fiercely protect their nests, goslings, or anything important to them when they feel threatened. Saying that someone is mean offers a subjective moral judgment and implies that they are intentionally unkind (Merriam-Webster, 2023).

The now beloved domestic geese visiting my home asking for a snack.

An Aha Moment

At Birch Grove Park, the geese did not enter my space; I entered theirs, which made them feel threatened (Canada Goose Life History, 2026). It took me decades to realize this simple fact, even though, in hindsight, it seems so obvious. The teacher who instructed me to stay away from them was most likely trying to keep me safe from harm. Much like the geese, she was protecting her territory. Although it was not her intention, in that moment, her attitude and actions illuminated a boundary between humans and fellow animals, as well as a species hierarchy that prioritized human territory and the need to feel safe above a fellow animal's territory and the need for safety (Martusewicz et al., 2021). This lesson stayed with me into adulthood. Four-year-old me took the teacher's message as fact and accepted it unquestioningly. The idea that geese are mean seemed logical in that moment.

Rethinking How We Educate 

What if my teacher had approached the entire field trip differently, conducting an exploration of the fellow animals we would encounter at the park beforehand? The teacher and I might have learned that geese are highly territorial and honk, hiss, or stretch their necks at perceived threats to the gaggle, their nests, or their young to ward them off (Canada Goose Life History, 2026). Additionally, instead of just telling me that geese are "mean" and that's why I had to move away from them, it could have become a learning moment. She could have asked me guiding questions while ushering me to a safe distance, such as "When do geese honk and stretch their necks at someone?" or "Since geese can't use words to tell you how they're feeling, what do you think their bodies are telling you? How can we help them feel safe?" This might have sparked a rich conversation about understanding and honoring different ways of knowing and being, or about mutually supportive coexistence with fellow animals. Instead of instilling fear of geese, it could have piqued my curiosity and fostered respect for these dynamic, fascinating beings.

Moving from Learning About to Learning With

Taking it a step further, instead of conducting a standalone unit on specific animals and taking a trip to visit them at a human-made park, the teacher could have framed the relationship between humans and fellow animals as interdependent, shifting the focus away from humans as the pinnacle of existence (Braidotti, 2018) and positioning them as an interconnected part of the web of life, no more or less crucial than any other being (Web of Life, 2021). This shift in perspective reshapes the relationship between humans and animals toward interdependence and learning with fellow animals rather than about them. Interdependence is characterized by mutual reliance between two entities or by mutual support within a vast and complex system of life (brown, 2017; Martusewicz et al., 2021). Expanding the outlook from human-centered to a relational approach also helps close the imaginary divide between humans and fellow animals, asserting that humans are animals and part of nature, not separate from it. It is not merely a shift in perspective; it changes the lens through which the teacher teaches and the students learn, toward a more inclusive, interconnected, and relational pedagogy.

Exposure to such a pedagogy might have led me to a different understanding of species hierarchy (or lack thereof) and how humans fit into the grand scheme of nature. When I reached adulthood, I became an early childhood educator and unintentionally modeled speciesism—the belief in human superiority over other animals (Taylor, 2017) to the children I worked with through my attitude, words, and deeds. Perhaps if I had received a different type of education, I would have spent the first part of my career striving to cultivate an ethic of interdependence and relationality among humans and fellow animals with students. I can't change the past, but I can use it to inform the present and guide me as I work toward a vision of a better future (Boggs et al., 2012).

An Alternative Approach

Today, I strive to approach teaching and life with a critical awareness and question my assumptions. That critical awareness led me to question my belief that geese are “mean”. It prompted me to research their behaviors and gain a more holistic understanding of them. As a result, I'm learning quite a bit about these remarkable fellow animals and their importance within the local ecosystem. Geese aid in seed dispersal, habitat connectivity, and nutrient cycling (Maslo & Lewis, 2013). They are also reported to be very intelligent, social, and loyal creatures with excellent vision and memories, reportedly remembering the faces of humans they have encountered in the past (Meet Your Animal Neighbors: Goose, 2026). Forming a better understanding of geese led to the epiphany that they are not "mean" and that I should probably do some research before simply accepting something my preschool teacher told me decades ago. If we don't occasionally stop to reexamine our long-held beliefs, perceptions, or attitudes (Cranton, 2016), we might miss out on learning opportunities that could expand our hearts and minds, such as cultivating respect and understanding for fellow animals within our ecosystems. Such opportunities are gifts that allow us to reimagine community, form an ethic of interdependence that includes fellow animals, and discover what mutual support looks and feels like.

Learning Through Ecological Interdependence

Moving forward, I am working to get to know the plants and animals around my home, both on land and in the water. I aim to understand their roles and how everything functions together, so I can best support the needs of each organism as well as the ecosystem, and we can all thrive together (Martusewicz et al., 2021). I intend to bring this pedagogical framework of learning through ecological interdependence to the classroom and the young people I serve. Perhaps this alternative approach to teaching and learning will help enact a more relational, interconnected vision of the future, at least in this small part of the world.

The next article in what I hope will be a three-part series for the APHE EmpowerED Blog will explore what ecological interdependence looks and feels like. It will focus on developing an understanding of the web of life and our place within it. The third and final piece will discuss implementing a relational ecology (Scott, 2022) with young people to support and strengthen their future relationships with the natural world. A relational ecology will build on the foundation established in the first two articles and work toward a stronger, healthier, and more sustainable relationship among humans, fellow animals, and the natural world. I look forward to exploring these topics with all of you in the future.

References

Boggs, G. L., Kurashige, S., & Glover, D. (2012). The next American revolution: Sustainable activism for the twenty-first century (2nd ed). University of California Press. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=456924

Braidotti, R. (2018). A theoretical framework for the critical posthumanities. Theory, Culture & Society, 36(6), 31–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276418771486

brown, a. m. (2017). Emergent strategy: Shaping change, changing worlds. AK Press.

Canada Goose Life History (2026). Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All About Birds. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canada_Goose/lifehistory 

Cranton, P. (2016). Understanding and promoting transformative learning: A guide to theory and practice: Vol. Third edition. Stylus Publishing.

Maslo, B., & Lewis, C. (2013). Canada Goose Ecology and Impacts in New Jersey. Rutgers, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1214/

Martusewicz, R. A., Edmundson, J., & Lupinacci, J. (2021). Ecojustice education: Toward diverse, democratic, and sustainable communities. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Martusewicz, R. A., Edmundson, J., & Lupinacci, J. (2021). Ecojustice education: Toward diverse, democratic, and sustainable communities. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 

Meet Your Animal Neighbors: Goose. (2026) Wild Welcome. https://www.wildwelcome.com/animals/goose 

Merriam-Webster. (2023). Definition of mean. In Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community.

Scott, J. (2022). Our human relationship with water: A narrative exploration of Indigenous wisdom and critical consciousness [Doctoral dissertation, California Institute of Integral Studies]. California Institute of Integral Studies. 

Taylor, S. (2017). Beasts of Burden. University of California Press.

Web of Life (2021). U.S. Department of the Interior. National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/