Reiss, Michael J; (2023) Debating Evolution in Context – Religion in the Biology Classroom – Brazil, England, Pakistan and the United States. In: Fraser-Pearce, Jo and Fraser, James, (eds.) The Bloomsbury Handbook of Schools and Religion. Bloomsbury Academic: London, UK.

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Abstract

Evolution is perhaps the central theory in biology. Many with a religious faith accept its validity but there are many with a religious faith who reject it, holding that it contradicts their understanding of their religion. I examine the place of religion in the biology classroom when teaching evolution in four contrasting countries: Brazil, England, Pakistan and the USA and then go on to discuss ways in which school biology teachers might deal with the issue. One approach is to consider evolution as a controversial issue; this can work well so long as ‘controversial’ is used to mean ‘contentious’, not that evolution is scientifically controversial – the overwhelming majority of scientists see evolution as a very robust and well-established theory. I explore the worth of seeing acceptance of creationism or intelligent design as worldviews, and discuss the advantages of treating evolution as a sensitive issue for some students.

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