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Submission Type

Special Issue (Convergence of Science and Spirituality)

Abstract

Conventional educational paradigms have long been shaped by worldviews that centre human rationality, and exclude the agency, intelligence, and communicative capacity of non-human beings. While holistic and contemplative education movements have begun to open space for alternative approaches, a broader reconceptualization is needed – one that embraces the living world as intelligent, interconnected, and full of meaning.

This submission explores intuitive interspecies communication (IIC), described as the direct, non-verbal exchange between humans and other animals that draws on intuitive capacities. IIC is widespread and growing rapidly as a global professional practice, and academic interest in this topic has expanded in recent years across multiple disciplines, including communication studies, anthropology, animal geographies, agriculture, and parapsychology. Although still emerging, conversations around IIC are beginning to surface in educational research, especially as more children speak of meaningful, intuitive connections with animals - experiences that are often overlooked or dismissed in formal learning environments.

Recognizing and nurturing children’s intuitive capacities invites a fundamental shift in how we understand learning and communication. It also challenges dominant paradigms that equate knowledge with verbal, visual, or measurable forms. Instead, IIC invites us to honour relational, experiential, and intuitive ways of knowing - expanding not only who counts as a learner, but also who counts as a teacher. As part of a broader move toward a biocentric worldview, IIC opens pathways for students to experience deeper connection, meaning, and belonging beyond the human.

To explore these possibilities, we convened a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary panel with three panelists whose work spans education research, professional animal communication, and wildlife conservation. Megan Tucker is a PhD student in Philosophy of Education from Canada, whose work explores how children experience IIC and the meanings of those experiences. Anita Vallala is a professional animal communicator and educator based in India, who teaches IIC to children and adults. Cathrine Nyquist is the co-founder of Panthera Africa in South Africa, a large cat sanctuary, where IIC is an integral component of animal care and welfare.

Together, the panelists examined a central question: What becomes possible when we take IIC seriously in education? This submission highlights key insights from the conversation and offers a set of themes to guide further reflection and practice. At its core, it invites educators, researchers, and practitioners to listen more deeply – to children, to animals, and to the world around us – and to reimagine education as a space of connection, compassion, and belonging beyond the human.

Additional Files
Mathur et al_Reimagining Education with IIC.pdf (210 kB)
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