How do primary pre-service teachers assess circus with animals and its educational value? A study with Portuguese, Spanish and Greek students

This study aimed to check the opinion of primary pre-service teachers about circus with animals, including if they recognize any educational value in this type of show and how they assess the animals’ treatment in this place. For that, a questionnaire with open and closed questions was administered at the beginning of the present school year in three higher education institutions, one in Portugal, one in Spain and one in Greece. Among students of the different countries, the results were very similar, and the participants tend to considered that this show as no educational or even recreational interest for children, mainly based on arguments centered on animals. Therefore, they considered that this show mutilate animals’ welfare, but one third of the participants showed difficulties in assessing how animals are treated in certain aspects. The results suggest that in their future practice the majority of the students will not convey an uncritical view of this show to their pupils. Even so, only a few Portuguese students recognize the value of circus as a controversial issue to be explicitly approached in class, a reason that could be related to syllabus content of Didactic of Science, a curricular unit in their plan course.