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Allison Ratner, Ph.D. is a 2025 graduate of the PhD Program in Leadership and Change at Antioch University.

Dissertation Committee

  • Diane Richard-Allerdyce, PhD, Committee Chair
  • Jennifer Raymond, PhD, Committee Member
  • Debra Argentina, PhD, Committee Member

Keywords

children, animals, education, autoethnography, empathy, epiphany

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

This dissertation’s goal was an attempt to answer the question: What are the emotional, cognitive, and/or spiritual effects of children’s relationships/interactions with animals that potentially impact their development? By utilizing autoethnography, I analyzed instances from my own life where interacting with animals changed me permanently; my thinking, my knowing, my feeling, my judgement, my empathy, my attitude, and my ethics. With a standpoint rooted in the research of experts from the fields of psychology and education, I combined my personal knowledge gained over a lifetime, to grant merit to the profundity of children’s relationships with animals. With the analyzed data, I make suggestions for future research which includes proposing the topic be studied by people in indirect fields of academia and professional occupations. If children can learn to respect the feelings of creatures deemed inferior, they have a better chance of developing into adults who can respect, or at least tolerate, each other. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive (https://aura.antioch.edu/) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Comments

Allison Ratner

ORCID: #0009-0008-6022-4385

I grew up in New York City and have fulfilled my life’s dream of living in the country. I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Sarah Lawrence College after having returned to school as an adult. I went undiagnosed for autism and ADHD until last fall (2024) which helps to explain why I gravitated to schools that nurtured critical thinking, writing, and creativity over memorizing and exam taking. My interests are animal minds, animal rights, creative learning, hands-on learning, art, crafts, nature, music, driving, and home improvement projects. I hope to utilize my degree in Leadership & Change to promote educational justice and equity to the best of my ability. When all else fails, pet a goat (I wanted to write my dissertation on therapeutic goat petting, and as it turns out, I did so but in a very round-about way). Thanks for reading.

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