Education about animal sentience, behaviour, and welfare in schools creates the foundation for a more animal-aware society. Understanding effective approaches helps advocates support school-based welfare education.
School-based animal welfare education has the potential to shape the attitudes and behaviours of future generations at scale. Children who understand animal sentience and natural behaviour from an early age are more likely to make welfare-conscious decisions as adults. The challenge is integrating welfare education into already crowded curricula and ensuring that it is evidence-based, age-appropriate, and not preachy in ways that create backlash. Farm animal visits that are welfare-focused, school animal keeping projects that model good care, and food education that includes the welfare dimension of food choices are among the most promising approaches.