{"id":55957,"date":"2022-10-07T08:22:52","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T08:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revista-apunts.com\/?p=55957"},"modified":"2023-01-01T18:34:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-01T18:34:15","slug":"patterns-of-interactive-and-motor-behavior-animal-assisted-intervention-in-inclusive-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revista-apunts.com\/en\/patterns-of-interactive-and-motor-behavior-animal-assisted-intervention-in-inclusive-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Patterns of Interactive and Motor Behavior: Animal-Assisted Intervention in Inclusive Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An inclusive education system generates changes in educational teaching practices and opens the need to implement an innovative methodology to offer more opportunities to the student to participate in an inclusive educational system. Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) bring benefits from human-animal interaction by contributing to the success of inclusive education. This study was conducted through the systematic observational methodology over two case studies of children with disabilities during a school year. The Observational System for Animal Assisted Interventions (OSAAI) has been validated. Observation using the OSAAI system, coding using the LINCE PLUS software and analysis of temporal patterns (t-patterns), using the THEME software, made it possible to obtain behavioral patterns in a systematized way of the interaction and motor behavior between the agents of the triad: the participant, the therapy animal, and the teacher. The results have shown a progressive increase of communicative patterns accompanied by proactive emotional expressions of the participants. These results demonstrate the benefits in cognitive, motor, multisensory, and interactive stimulation reported by the AAI with the student with disabilities of different etiology in an inclusive educational context.<\/p>\n\n\n

Keywords:<\/strong> Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI)<\/span>, behavior patterns<\/span>, functional diversity<\/span>, Observational System of Animal Assisted Interventions (OSAAI)<\/span><\/p> <\/div> \n\n\n\n

Introduction  <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

International educational policies are committed to the creation of an inclusive educational system that is equitable, which promotes justice, social cohesion (Ainscow, 2020<\/a>; UNESCO, 2008<\/a>) and eliminates social exclusion (Ainscow, 2020<\/a>). Thus, the inclusive educational system has been defined as \u201cthe process of strengthening the capacity of the education system to accommodate all learners and people, thus enabling schools to service all children, especially those with special educational needs\u201d (UNESCO, 2008, p. 8<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educational inclusion generates changes in teaching educational practices and the need to apply new methodological strategies to address the diversity and needs of students (Ainscow, 2006<\/a>; UNESCO, 2008<\/a>) with the aim of enabling the presence, participation and success of all students in the educational context (Ainscow, 2020<\/a>; Echeita & Ainscow, 2011<\/a>). In addition, to promote the generalization of an inclusive educational system, it is necessary to provide evidence on those educational practices focused on social learning processes that take place in particular contexts (Ainscow, 2020<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An effective inclusive pedagogical methodology adapting learning rhythms to the individual characteristics and needs of students is the personalization of learning (Walkington & Bernacki, 2020<\/a>). This methodology agrees with current pedagogical optimization trends both in formal education (Valero-Valenzuela et al., 2020<\/a>) and in informal education, where particular contexts promote inclusive education (Ainscow, 2002<\/a>; Puigarnau et al., 2016<\/a>) and also from the point of view of educational psychology and, therefore, of the relationship established between motivation and learning (Bernacki & Walkington, 2018<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animal Assisted Education (AAE) is based on person-centered learning that facilitates social and curricular learning for students. This generation of student interest in the presence of the intervention dog improves performance and educational success in learning reading skills (Renck, 2005<\/a>; Xinmei & Tardif Williams, 2019<\/a>), especially in students with special educational needs (Kirnan et al., 2020<\/a>). Furthermore, some specific studies have observed an improvement in school performance, social and behavioral competence in an AAI group of students with ADHD (Bunford et al., 2019<\/a>; Casta\u00f1er et al., 2020<\/a>; Schuck et al., 2018<\/a>). Similarly, the interaction established in AAI programs can have a positive impact on improving the behaviors and social skills of students with autism (Becker et al., 2017<\/a>; Dimolareva & Dunn, 2020<\/a>), especially an improvement in verbal and non-verbal communication (Hill et al., 2019<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organizations (IAHAIO) (2018)<\/a> clearly states that \u201cAnimal Assisted Education (AAE) is a goal oriented, planned and structured intervention directed and\/or delivered by educational and related service professionals included within animal assisted interventions (AAI) together with animal assisted therapy and animal assisted activities\u201d (IAHAIO, 2018, p. 5<\/a>). Fine (2015)<\/a> considers AAI as \u201can intervention that intentionally includes or incorporates animals as part of a therapeutic process\u201d (Fine, 2015, p. 15<\/a>) where the animal acts as a stimulus or facilitator in this process (Bachi & Parish Plass, 2016<\/a>; Rodrigo et al., 2017<\/a>) and as social support for people (Fine, 2018<\/a>). That is, it is based on the fact that humans promote natural contact with animals, thus facilitating social interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intervention animal in an AAE session acts as a facilitator to achieve the pedagogical objectives established from the human-animal interaction and communication that is reinforced by the link established between the species (Fine, 2015<\/a>). This bidirectional relationship is demonstrated by mean of the change of the dog\u2019s communication skills towards humans, specifically in relation to the animal\u2019s ability to initiate and learn communicative interactions and social routines and recognize human visual gestures (Soproni et al., 2001<\/a>). The fact that the social competence of dogs can be considered similar in its functioning to that of humans (Mikl\u00f3si & Top\u00e1l, 2013<\/a>) may be an important factor in the development of communicative intervention objectives in AAE programs. Other authors point out that the dynamic human-animal relationships influence the emotions and cognition of the animal and, for this reason, the ability to experience emotions and interact with humans may be essential for the development of benefits in AAI (Fine et al., 2019<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today there is a claiming need to evaluate benefits of AAI in the natural contexts of inclusive scholars\u2019 institutions and the present study offers a consistent methodology to pattering interactive behaviors on AAI during inclusive education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Methods<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Participants<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An AAI was carried out for three months to two participants who presented special educational needs and attended an ordinary public school. Both were in primary education and received specific support from ISIS (Intensive Support for Inclusive Schooling) professionals who facilitated their participation and learning in the ordinary educational environment. Participant 1, female, 12 years old, had multiple disabilities without a clear etiology, and participant 2, male, 10 years old, had Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Given the specificity of its individual characteristics, this study is a unique case studied from the follow-up of the evolution of the participants during a certain time that provided the necessary information for its analysis. According to the education inclusion\u2019s criteria, the sessions were conducted individually with each participant in the ordinary context of the school and, at the same time, it preserved the eventual reactions to the camera of other students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inclusion criteria followed to select the two participants were having a certification of Special Educational Needs (SEN) and a disability. The participants presented a polarized level of abilities, a fact that offered the possibility of being able to contrast the results of the study in a broader spectrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ethical considerations for conducting the study complied with ethical protocols. Regarding animal welfare: a) zoonosis prevention protocol, and b) animal welfare protocol. Regarding the study on participants, the following were obtained: c) information to the families and informed consent for participation in the study, and d) the certificate of the Ethics Committee for Clinical Research of the Sports Administration of Catalonia (reference number 23\/2018\/CEICEGC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We used systematic observation to observe regular behaviors in a natural setting (Anguera et al., 2017<\/a>). Observational methodology offers eight types of observational designs. This study is a Nomothetic\/Follow-up\/Multidimensional (N\/F\/M) design because our study focused on different participants (nomothetic) within different sequences (follow-up) and addressed multiple criteria and responses included in an ad hoc<\/em> observation instrument (multidimensional).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Procedure<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The sessions of 50 minutes of duration were carried out in a classroom of the educational center where the participants are students. The space allowed the AAI sessions to be held, placing the participants, the team of professionals and the intervention animal in different positions depending on the pedagogical needs that arose, either on a table or on a mat. The sessions included activities related to cognitive stimulation by means of enhancing the executive functions of memory, attention and tasks organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team of professionals who participated in the sessions was made up of the teacher in charge of the Intensive Support of Inclusive Education (SIEI, Generalitat de Catalunya, 2017<\/a>), who performed the functions of AAI technician and participant observer, and by the Special Education Educators, who assumed the development and acquisition of the educational objectives set out in a coordinated way in the Individualized Plan for each participant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two intervention dogs, a golden retriever and a toy poodle from the Ilerkan Association participated in the AAI sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All sessions were recorded using a digital camera and a tripod fixed at the same angle, to ensure the habituation of the participants. Specific criteria were followed to ensure the reliability of the sample:<\/p>\n\n\n\n