Teaching Evolution
Matthew Jones, member of our youth group, writes:
Hi all! just wanted to start up a discussion and i've been meaning to do this for a while now...
During the GCSE biology course, evolution is taught as fact rather than opinion. Do you think this is the right thing to do?
When we studied it, I felt that it was not giving the children any freedom on the matter, it was more like "this is the world, this is how we got here and that's it"
So the question I want to put up for discussion is this: Should evolution be taught as fact in schools?In my own opinion, I do not think so. I believe it should be taught, as everyone has a right to say what they wish, but not taught as fact.
Hi all! just wanted to start up a discussion and i've been meaning to do this for a while now...
During the GCSE biology course, evolution is taught as fact rather than opinion. Do you think this is the right thing to do?
When we studied it, I felt that it was not giving the children any freedom on the matter, it was more like "this is the world, this is how we got here and that's it"
So the question I want to put up for discussion is this: Should evolution be taught as fact in schools?In my own opinion, I do not think so. I believe it should be taught, as everyone has a right to say what they wish, but not taught as fact.
posted by St Catherine's @ 5:23 pm
3 Comments:
At Sat Nov 25, 05:32:00 pm GMT,
Anonymous said…
Good comment! I honestly don't know. The scientists I know who are honest are clear: it is scientific theory - the best theory, as far as they are concerned - but theory. I think science teachers sometimes lose that nuance, and present as "fact" something which requires quite a bit of faith to believe.
But then they accuse us of being stupid because they presume we believe in 6 Days Creation. I'm not sure I believe in that either (I think the Bible is more subtle than that, and poetry isn't always about the surface).
And anyway, I would hope that a good education is more about helping people to think, and less about telling them what to think.
And now I am being contrversial!
At Sat Dec 09, 11:04:00 am GMT,
Anonymous said…
Hmmm...it's a good question, which is frequently asked, and recently I have been asked why I believe in God. The worst thing of all was I was in a lecture where, a few of us get together and we're given a subject to talk about with a teacher. This week was about creationism and evolution. The teacher we had was a biology teacher who was completely one sided on evolution. He completely rubbished creationism and christianity in front of everyone who was there. I was trying to point out that you could teach both as being a theory because the question was, how can you teach both ideas in school.In Religious studies we're taught God made the earth and then in biology we're taught that we evolved from monkeys. In religious studies we are taught some people believe in these things and others in that and because the whole subject is based on peoples beliefs and faith, its never really taught as a facts. I might have ranted slightly.
At Thu Jan 10, 01:14:00 am GMT,
Anonymous said…
I do feel sorry for your teacher though, it is difficult for an atheist to understand a faith-based argument. I do try to avoid them when I can. We must be ready to conceed that the differing evolutionary models are built on a great deal of evidence, but there are some crucial gaps.
I am of the opinion one can believe very different things from someone else, if you have a reason for believing it and it enriches your life in some way no-one is free to criticise.
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