Browsing by Subject "tarkkaavaisuushäiriöt"

Objectives. The media attention related to dog-assisted pedagogy has lately increased steadily. Its popularity is slowly growing in Finland but quality research is hard to find. Even ten per cent of pupils have different degrees of attention deficit disorders. Also the severity of emotional and behavioral disorders is increasing all the time. Thus there is a genuine need to create more effective ways to support these pupils. Studies show that dog-assisted pedagogy has positive effects on attention deficit disorders. The goal of my research was to systematically investigate the effects of dog-assisted pedagogy on attention deficit disorders in learning situations The target group of my study were children in primary school age. I studied the topic through three research questions which focus on the effects of dog-assisted pedagogy on children’s concentration, social skills and the atmosphere in school classes. The theoretical background of my study is based on the human-animal bond and neurochemical changes in the human being. Method. The method of my study is a systematic literature review. My data consists of ten articles that I found through the University of Helsinki information search service, Google Scholar and EBSCOhost. The articles are peer reviewed and meet the criteria of academic text. Results and conclusions. Dog-assisted pedagogy had a positive effect on attention deficit disorders in learning situations. When a dog was present, the children were more attentive and able to concentrate better on given tasks. In addition, their social skills developed and the communication between children was improved. The presence of the dog also affected positively the atmosphere in the class and improved learning conditions. Dog-assisted pedagogy is a potential help for the schooling of children suffering from attention deficit disorders and according to my literature review it should be used more. There are relatively few studies on this area and, consequently, more high quality research is needed to support the application of the theory.