Joensuu school dogs guide pupils through classroom tasks

More than 30 trained school dogs work in Joensuu classrooms, helping pupils choose partners, subjects and assignments, Yle reports. Teachers say the dogs also help pupils calm down and concentrate.

One of them is Hilma, a four-year-old golden retriever whose second school year began last week at Karhunmäki school. Her owner, second-grade teacher Sari Elokivi, says Hilma is one of the most enthusiastic pupils imaginable.

“If Hilma had been asked, there would be no need for silly summer holidays,” Elokivi says.

Second-graders Justus Hakkarainen and Alva Vilpponen say Hilma’s presence makes the classroom feel pleasant and homely. Alva says the dog brings her a sense of calm, while Justus enjoys reading to Hilma.

Hilma also helps the class make decisions. She can spin a wheel, roll a die or perform a trick to determine what the pupils will do next or who will work together.

The pupils say they accept Hilma’s choices more easily than decisions made by a classmate because they see the result as luck.

“When Hilma chooses what to do or who does it, nobody questions the decision. Even boring things get done easily when the dog chooses,” says Satu Federley, who trains Joensuu’s school dogs with Irene Turunen.

Federley says older pupils have told her that school dogs have helped them during exams. When their thoughts begin to wander, they can look at Hilma or stroke her.

School dogs are different from reading dogs. A school dog works at school as part of teaching and learning, while a reading dog offers non-judgmental company to people learning to read, for example.

Dogs have a pedagogical role

Hilma is one of more than 30 trained school dogs in Joensuu. There is also one school dog in each of the neighbouring municipalities of Liperi and Tohmajärvi.

Federley and Turunen began training school dogs a few years ago. The Joensuu school dog programme received national recognition from the Trade Union of Education in Finland last year.

Training takes one year and begins with an aptitude test assessing whether a dog can work in a school environment. Schools are noisy places where many people move around and unexpected things happen, Federley says.

The training includes five in-person days for the dog and its handler. Federley stresses that a school dog is not merely a calming or motivating presence in the classroom, but also has a pedagogical role and participates in teaching.

School dogs work across all levels of education in Joensuu, from primary school to upper secondary school. Twenty dogs completed the programme in Joensuu last year, and another 20 are due to complete it this year.

The programme has received mostly positive feedback. Elokivi says schools conduct detailed allergy surveys every autumn and do not expose anyone to a dog against their will.

Federley says it is rarely completely impossible to use a dog at school. Some pupils with allergies, she says, would rather take allergy medication than miss class when the dog is present.