Roaming cats – diamond ranking
How do people perceive their relationship with animals? How do labels like ‘pest’ or ‘pet’ put animals in categories or assign rules to the ways we interact with them?
This activity uses the vexing question: Should cats be allowed to roam freely? Students consider nine statements and use a diamond ranking strategy to prioritise their viewpoints.
Diamond ranking strategy
Diamond ranking is a strategy to arrange items in order of priority. The first choice or the most important concept is placed at the top. The least desirable choice or concept is placed on the bottom.
Prior to conducting this activity, teachers may find it useful to read the article Managing classroom discussions. It provides helpful tips for creating a positive climate for discussion.
In this activity, students prioritise their viewpoints regarding cats and their freedom to roam. Students begin the activity by making individual rankings and then complete the rankings again as part of a group.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
read a variety of statements about cats and their freedom of movement
rank the statements from highest priority/first choice at the top to the lowest priority/last choice at the bottom
select and use scientific information and mātauranga Māori to develop and justify their views
consider multiple perspectives and respect the views and values of other people
explain if, how or why their thinking has shifted as a result of doing this activity.
Download the Word file (see link below).
Supporting activities
It’s ideal to complete Roaming cats – draw the line prior to commencing the diamond ranking strategy. This enables individual students to contemplate their personal views before being asked to work with others.
Should cats be allowed to roam freely? offers a similar premise but uses an online graphic organiser instead of printed statement cards.
Related content
Māori concepts for animal ethics – introduction brings together resources that explore animal ethics with a kaupapa Māori approach. Other resources include:
Activity ideas
The following activities also explore animals and ethics – using information and perspectives from the articles above:
Useful links
Feral and stray cats, published by the National Pest Control Agencies, provides a background overview of the pest cat problem in New Zealand with practical guidance on how to monitor feral cat populations and carry out feral cat control.
The New Zealand Cat Foundation explains the trap-neuter-return method of managing populations of stray cats.
Acknowledgement
This content has been developed by Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart (Ngāti Kura, Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu, Pare Hauraki), Auckland University of Technology, and Dr Sally Birdsall, University of Auckland, with funding and support from the Ministry for Primary Industries – Manatū Ahu Matua and the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART).
Animals of Aotearoa and animal ethics
Animals of Aotearoa: Kaupapa Māori Summaries and Exploring the Three Rs of Animal Ethics with Māori Ideas were developed with funding from the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART) and the Ministry for Primary Industries. The silhouette design was created for this project and is the copyright of Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart and Dr Sally Birdsall.
