International Rights Conference 2022

The BIG Veganism in Education Conference 

This year, The Vegan Society’s Education Network and the International Rights Network joined forces to host The BIG Veganism in Education Conference. During this conference the following topics were discussed:

What is veganism?

Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude – as far as is possible and practicable – all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment.1

What are the issues?

The vegan philosophy is not routinely taught in schools and many educational resources and activities overlook the exploitation of non-human animals and perpetuate prejudice against them. Prejudice against other animals is (perhaps inadvertently) embedded in the majority of teaching and learning practice and we know from experience that many vegan parents and pupils feel frustrated about how their needs are overlooked. This is evidenced by their struggle to obtain vegan food, a free healthy drink on par with the free provision of cow’s milk, and the lack of vegan-friendly resources, activities, and excursions. For example, in class, vegan pupils are often expected to uncritically discuss drinking cow’s milk, handle meat and dairy products, use materials derived from non-human animals in textile and art, dissect dead non-human animals, participate in keeping chicks, butterflies, and other non-human animals in captivity and are given uncritical reading resources that overlook and misrepresent the suffering of farmed non-human animals.

While individual vegans are sometimes successful in their attempts to obtain accommodation of needs, we argue that prejudice towards other animals and its apparent normalisation is at the root of the marginalisation of the needs of vegan pupils. Our conference this year will, therefore, bring this into focus and advocate for the development of policies and practices that embed respect and compassion for non-human animals which contributes to vegan-inclusive education and helps support the needs of vegan learners.

How does our conference support and help facilitate necessary change?

Understanding vegan-inclusive education requires educators to understand more about veganism and the needs of vegans. They also need access to training, teaching resources, and ongoing support. To this end, Laura Chepner, members of The Vegan Society’s Education Network, and our valued speakers will explain the relationship between prejudice against other animals and hostility towards vegans, discuss evidence of exclusion and the impact on vegan pupils and parents, the principles of vegan-inclusive education and promote various education initiatives including our CPD accredited teacher training programme.

Successful inclusive education requires school transformation and systems change, and one key element is understanding existing structural, educational, and cultural challenges.2 Our conference will discuss the role of law in dealing with these issues, and lawyers from our International Rights Network will explain:

Location 

The conference was in partnership for Learning Charity: Training Conference Centre and held at:

(Free parking) 

Map 

Schedule 

Please visit our Big Veganism in Education Conference programme webpage to see a full schedule of the day. 

Speakers

Please visit our speakers page for a full list of who delivered talks at the conference this year. 

Contact 

• Laura Chepner: education[at]vegansociety[dot]com   
• Dr Jeanette Rowley: Jeanette.Rowley[at]vegansociety[dot]com

References

1. The Vegan Society. ‘Definition of Veganism’.
2. Dr Matthew J. Schuelka (2018). ‘Implementing inclusive education’.