This study aims to explore the phenomenon of representations of non-human animals (NHAs) in children’s literature in Mauritius and the English, French and Mauritian Creole (Kreol Morisien) curriculum materials, as well as the discourse of children in the first year of primary school and the discourse of primary level curriculum developers and textbook writers. Through the adoption of an ecolinguistics perspective, eco-critical discourse analysis (ECDA) and thematic analysis were used to investigate four data sets: (1) a random sample of nine children’s books, (2) all the Grades 1 and 2 English, French, and Kreol Morisien textbooks, (3) group interviews with children in Grade 1 of primary school, and (4) accounts gathering with curriculum developers and textbook writers. Through the analysis of these four interwoven data sets, one of the key objectives was to reconceptualise ecologically responsible holistic education, within the holistic philosophy present in the primary school curriculum of Mauritius. The key findings show that the combination of cultural knowledge and first-hand experiences contributes to the development of empathy and caring attitudes towards NHAs, and that children do not have any intrinsic predisposition towards anthropocentrism, or speciesism; it is via cultural information and adult discourse that they develop these attitudes. Such information is transmitted multimodally, through verbal interactions, media, textbooks, and literature material. The study proposes an ecologically- responsible, anthropoharmonic, critically holistic, humane education (Eco-ACHHE) model as the main recommendation for transitioning the current local primary curriculum into a reformist one. The model is intended for use at a micro-level for teacher practice in primary school classrooms, meso-level teacher-training, as well as textbook writing in relation to holistic education at primary level, and curriculum development practices at a macro-level, in terms of national policy development. The Eco-ACHHE model can be used by stakeholders in education to construct their own awareness and that of their learners on the issues surrounding NHAs, but also to implement different types of anthropoharmonic, holistic and ecologically-responsible activities.
