Dr Janet Oostendorp-Godfrey

Dr Janet Oostendorp Godfrey is a Research Assistant (RA) at Swansea University with 25 years experience as a qualified special / alternative needs classroom practitioner and advisory teacher in mainstream and special schools. She is interested in the role and welfare of school dogs for students’ cognition, self-determination and motivation for learning.

Her PhD (2021) investigated whether dogs could affect both children’s and adults’ working memory skills for classroom tasks, comparing results with ‘live’ dogs present and those within an ‘immersive’ virtual reality headset.

She has undertaken training in Animal Assisted Play Therapy ©, is a student member of the UK Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and worked with her own two dogs, Maisie and Isla, in schools, hospitals, hospices and mental health charities.

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