Abstract
The study reported here is part of a larger project which began when it was announced that the science curriculum for primary schools in England would include the teaching of evolution . Evolution is widely seen by teachers and pre-service teachers as an area of science that is challenging to teach; one of the reasons often given is a concern that the science may conflict with some children’s religious beliefs. Teacher education courses were provided for pre-service primary school teachers to address the teaching of science and also RE (religious education). The motivation for the current study was to discover how, if at all, pre-service primary teachers changed their planned approaches to teaching evolution as a result of a cross-curricular seminar session that explored issues and questions that are frequently raised by school students and teachers as areas of concern. In particular, we looked for changes in pre-service teachers’ attitudes to teaching about evolution , their planned approach to teaching evolution, subject knowledge of science and perception of the relationship between religion and the nature of science before and after participating in the workshop. The data indicated that the experience of taking part in a cross-curricular session informed participants’ own understanding of evolution and of how science and religion relate and prompted this cohort to consider using this strategy as part of their own teaching.
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Appendix
Appendix
Pre-session survey
Answer options | 5 (agree strongly) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 (disagree strongly) | Response count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Evolution is an important idea for children in primary school to learn about in science | 18 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 45 |
I am glad that evolution will be taught in primary school | 15 | 18 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
Parents should be informed that a lesson on evolution will take place and can remove their child | 12 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 45 |
I am looking forward to teaching evolution | 9 | 12 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 44 |
I am concerned about teaching evolution | 2 | 10 | 15 | 12 | 5 | 44 |
It will be important to take into account children’s religious beliefs | 29 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 44 |
Evolution is a theory and not a fact | 20 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 45 |
I have an adequate understanding of evolution to teach at this level | 4 | 7 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 45 |
Not all scientists support evolution | 12 | 12 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 44 |
Evolution says that humans evolved from monkeys | 11 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 45 |
I think children are likely to ask questions about religion | 14 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 45 |
The Bishops of the Church of England do not accept evolution | 8 | 13 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 44 |
Christians believe in a six-day Creation | 19 | 14 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 45 |
Evolution says that life evolved over billions of years from simpler creatures | 24 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 44 |
Darwin is the originator of the theory of evolution | 17 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 44 |
The theory of evolution is in conflict with a belief in Creation | 14 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 44 |
Darwin’s theory was controversial because it contradicted religious teaching | 24 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 44 |
Fossils are evidence for the theory of evolution | 15 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 44 |
I will tell children they have a choice about whether to accept evolution | 27 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 44 |
Most Christians reject evolution | 5 | 12 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 44 |
Evolution is a very well supported explanation for how life came to be | 12 | 17 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 44 |
Post-session survey
Answer options | 5 (agree strongly) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 (disagree strongly) | Response count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Evolution is an important idea for children in primary school to learn about in science | 19 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 44 |
I am glad that evolution will be taught in primary school | 18 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 44 |
Parents should be informed that a lesson on evolution will take place and can remove their child | 8 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 44 |
I am looking forward to teaching evolution | 7 | 15 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 44 |
I am concerned about teaching evolution | 0 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 44 |
It will be important to take into account children’s religious beliefs | 22 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 44 |
Evolution is a theory and not a fact | 21 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 44 |
I have an adequate understanding of evolution to teach at this level | 5 | 18 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 44 |
Not all scientists support evolution | 9 | 16 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 44 |
Evolution says that humans evolved from monkeys | 1 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 30 | 44 |
I think children are likely to ask questions about religion | 14 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 44 |
The Bishops of the Church of England do not accept evolution | 1 | 4 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 43 |
Christians believe in a six-day Creation | 11 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 44 |
Evolution says that life evolved over billions of years from simpler creatures | 24 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 44 |
Darwin is the originator of the theory of evolution | 11 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 44 |
The theory of evolution is in conflict with a belief in Creation | 8 | 10 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 44 |
Darwin’s theory was controversial because it contradicted religious teaching | 12 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 44 |
Fossils are evidence for the theory of evolution | 20 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 43 |
I will tell children they have a choice about whether to accept evolution | 25 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 43 |
Most Christians reject evolution | 1 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 3 | 44 |
Evolution is a very well supported explanation for how life came to be | 13 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 44 |
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Billingsley, B., Abedin, M., Chappell, K., Hatcher, C. (2019). Developing a Cross-Curricular Session about Evolution for Initial Teacher Education: Findings from a Small-Scale Study with Pre-service Primary School Teacher. In: Harms, U., Reiss, M. (eds) Evolution Education Re-considered. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14698-6_3
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