How should we deal with creationism in schools?

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• Professor Michael Reiss (Institute of Education, University of London)
• Monday 12 October 2009, 17:00-18:30
• GS4, Donald McIntyre Building, Faculty of Education, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge.

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All welcome

ABSTRACT:

Until recently, little attention has been paid in the school classroom to creationism and almost none to intelligent design. However, creationism and possibly intelligent design appear to be on the increase and there are indications that some schools are becoming battlegrounds over them. I begin by examining whether creationism and intelligent design are controversial issues. I then examine whether the notion of ‘worldviews’ in the context of creationism is a useful one by considering the film March of the Penguins. I conclude that the ‘worldviews’ perspective on creationism is useful for two reasons: first it indicates the difficulty of using the criterion of reason to decide whether an issue is controversial or not; secondly, it suggests that standard ways of addressing the diversity of student views in a science classroom may be inadequate. I close by examining the implications of this view for teaching (i) in science lessons at secondary level, (ii) in RE lessons at secondary level and (iii) at primary level where subject divisions cannot be made in so clear-cut a manner.

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