One in three Brit teachers believes creationism should be at par with evolution
London, Nov 7 : One in three Brit teachers believes that the theories of creationism and intelligent design should be given the same status as evolution in the classroom, according to a new survey.
According to the survey of 1,200 teachers, 53 per cent thought that creationism should not be taught in science lessons, while 29 per cent thought it should, reports Timesonline.
However, 88 per cent said that if students raised the issue in a science lesson, they should be allowed to discuss it.
Creationism is based on a literal interpretation of scripture as an explanation for the origins of life.
Intelligent design is a more modern version, which says that life is so complex it cannot be explained solely by evolution.
According to National curriculum guidelines, creationism has no place in science lessons.
Last year, Professor Michael Reiss, a biologist and Royal Society director of education, provoked a furore by calling for creationism to be treated in science lessons as a legitimate ‘world-view’.
It’s nice to see a news article which calls intelligent design what it is – a “modern version” of creationism – but it’s still unfortunate to hear such a silly thing be called a “theory”. Maybe it’s stupid statements like this that have played into the awful science education of so many British teachers.
It should be of note that while creationism is rampant all over the world, including Britain, this was a survey of all teachers, not just science or biology teachers. Regardless, however, of one’s particular field, there’s little excuse for thinking magic is at all a legitimate world view.
Filed under: Creationism, Evolution, News | Tagged: British, Brits, classroom, Creationism, Evolution, Science, science classroom, teachers | 4 Comments »
For the Sake of Science 