Evolutionary reluctance
In the most recent issue of Penn State’s Research magazine, which I receive because I’m a member of the National Association of Science Writers, there was a little article that caught my eye. It was titled “High school biology teachers reluctant to endorse evolution in class.”
I find this concept somewhat shocking. According to the article, “the majority of public high school biology teachers are not strong classroom advocates of evolutionary biology … despite forty years of court cases that have ruled that teaching creationism or intelligent design violates the U.S. Constitution.” Worse yet, 13% of teachers “explicitly advocate creationism or intelligent design.”
Now, for a bit of background … I have a degree in Biology and am a trained science writer. So, yes, I believe in evolutionary biology. The evidence is stacked up in its favor. And, yes, I think that creationism and intelligent design are complete bunk and I would rather not have teachers share them as viable options.
If we are going to be competitive in the global economy, we need to have a scientifically literate populace. And that’s not going to happen if kids aren’t taught the scientific method and are led to believe that evolutionary biology doesn’t have its merits.
One thing I liked about my biology education was that I learned the history of the science to help put everything in perspective. That means I know about Lamarckian evolutionary, even though it is total bunk. In a nut shell, Lamarck believed that an individual could change themselves and pass that change onto their offspring. The most common example given is a proto-giraffe stretching its neck to get the higher branches and then giving birth to longer-necked proto-giraffes, eventually leading to the giraffes we see today. That would be like me working out and getting a ripped body and expecting my subsequent children to automatically have ripped bodies. Bunk.
So, including creationism and intelligent design as ideas that have been considered, and then putting them through the scientific process so that their flaws can be seen, can be a good idea. Evolutionary biology isn’t perfect either … and it has been being tweaked and improved over the years as new evidence comes to light or we better understand the evidence we have.
This is the scientific process folks! Theory, test, tweak.
This article in the Penn State magazine was providing a summary of Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America’s Classrooms by Michael Berkman and Eric Plutzer. In the book, the authors point out that if you fail to explain the nature of scientific inquiry, you may actually have a greater impact on undermining scientific literacy than those who espouse creationism openly.
What are these biology teachers thinking? Are they that afraid to teach the basic tenets of biology? Do they not understand the disservice they are doing to their students?
It boggles my mind.
For more on this topic:
- High school biology teachers reluctant to endorse evolution in class
- High School Biology Teachers in U.S. Reluctant to Endorse Evolution in Class, Study Finds
- Study: Most high school biology teachers don’t endorse evolution