“Let’s Talk about It”—Explicit Discussions as a Way to Reduce the Resistance of Religious Jewish Science Teachers to Learning and Teaching about Evolution: A Case Study

Iris Alkaher,Marva Shmueli,Amos Dreyfus

doi:10.3390/educsci10110298

Iris Alkaher, Marva Shmueli + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10110298

Copy DOI

Abstract

Acknowledging the diverse perceptions about science–religion relationships among learners who come from various religious environments may increase learners’ willingness to learn about evolution. This study is based on a zoology course designed for in-service teachers, which aimed to provide basic scientific knowledge about evolution using the Religious Cultural Competence in Evolution Education framework. The study explores whether learners who were resistant to evolution modify their attitudes and willingness to learn about it, and whether they develop respect toward learners who hold contradicting views. Using qualitative methods, the findings indicate that using the Religious Cultural Competence in Evolution Education framework increased some formerly “resistant” learners’ willingness to learn about evolution and include it in their own teaching, albeit in varying degrees and with various reservations. The learners appreciated the freedom to express their challenges concerning evolution learning or teaching and became more willing to respect opposing perspectives, even though not all the religious learners accepted evolution as an explanation for the development of organisms. This study has international implications for bridging the gap between science and religion, thus reducing resistance to learning and teaching about evolution.

Highlights

For many years, the scientific community has strongly agreed that evolution is central to unifying the principles of biology, with sufficient supporting evidence [1]
For a variety of reasons [3,4,5,6,7] many science teachers tend to exclude the topic of evolution from their teaching: Some teachers find it difficult for students to understand evolutionary processes, and others feel that evolution contradicts their personal religious beliefs [8,9,10]
Frankel and Ziv [11] conducted a study in Israel investigating the attitudes of 241 primary school biology teachers toward evolution and found that one third of them chose not to

Summary

Introduction

The scientific community has strongly agreed that evolution is central to unifying the principles of biology, with sufficient supporting evidence [1]. Scientists and science educators widely agree that learning about the evolution theory is fundamental to understanding biological processes and the nature of life and is the only coherent scientific theory. For a variety of reasons [3,4,5,6,7] many science teachers tend to exclude the topic of evolution from their teaching: Some teachers find it difficult for students to understand evolutionary processes, and others feel that evolution contradicts their personal religious beliefs [8,9,10]. Some teachers prefer to abstain from teaching about evolution because they feel that they lack the tools and skills necessary for teaching such a controversial topic and, in many cases, evolution is not included in the school curriculum. Frankel and Ziv [11] conducted a study in Israel investigating the attitudes of 241 primary school biology teachers toward evolution and found that one third of them chose not to

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion