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Scientific and Religious Perspectives on Evolution in the Curriculum: an Approach Based on Pedagogy of Difference

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Abstract

There is a long history of some students finding that the science instruction they receive in schools fails to address their deeply held concerns about the theory of evolution. Such concerns are principally religious, though there are also students with deeply held religious views who are perfectly comfortable with the theory of evolution. New instructional strategies are emerging, aimed at reducing the tensions that may exist between evolution and religion by making space for students to examine their own views and recognize the spectrum of views that exists between atheistic evolution and special creation, as well as the bounded nature of science and different ways of knowing. In this article, we discuss the teaching of evolution in societies where acceptance of the theory of evolution is far from universal, and argue that an approach based on pedagogy of difference has considerable potential to enhance students’ development of epistemic insight through recognition of the multiple perspectives that exist concerning the relationship between religion and science. In doing so, we explicate precisely what pedagogy of difference entails and introduce an approach that should enhance evolution education, and even aid students’ situating of science as a resource for making decisions about issues with scientific and societal aspects where the acknowledgement of multiple perspectives is valuable.

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Notes

  1. By the term “form of life,” we are not speaking biologically, to describe different biological species. Rather we are speaking of diverse ways in which human beings live in the world, modes of thinking and practicing, believing and behaving, in which people participate at various times and in various ways, sometimes professionally, sometimes personally, sometimes collectively, sometimes individually. Science is a form of life in this sense in that it involves a ways of thinking and inquiring intended to produce knowledge based on the systematic examination of empirical evidence. Religions are also forms of life as they too entail thinking and acting. For the most part, however, these attitudes and practices are not intended to produce empirical knowledge in the scientific sense of the term. Rather, they rely on other possible ways of knowing, which might be based on personal experiences, direct encounter, or interpretation of sacred texts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Middle Grades and Secondary Education, Armstrong Campus, Georgia Southern University, 11935 Abercorn St, Savannah, GA, 31419, USA

    David C. Owens

  2. Center for Jewish Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, 199 Abba Khoushi Bkvd, Mount Carmel, 3498838, Haifa, Israel

    Rachel S. A. Pear

  3. Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, 199 Abba Khoushi Bkvd, Mount Carmel, 3498838, Haifa, Israel

    Hanan A. Alexander

  4. UCL Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL, UK

    Michael J. Reiss

  5. Faculty of Education in Technology and Science, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 32006, Haifa, Israel

    Tali Tal

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  1. David C. Owens
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  2. Rachel S. A. Pear
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Correspondence to David C. Owens.

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Owens, D.C., Pear, R.S.A., Alexander, H.A. et al. Scientific and Religious Perspectives on Evolution in the Curriculum: an Approach Based on Pedagogy of Difference. Res Sci Educ 48, 1171–1186 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-018-9774-z

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