Abstract
This chapter will examine the teaching of evolution in the public education system of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The goal of this chapter is to examine the status of evolution education in the Iranian education system and address inaccurate presumptions that are seeded in the Western views of Iran as a theocratic state with dilapidated ideals and perspectives. Through examination of existing literature and previous reviews and analyses of Iran’s science textbooks and nationally mandated curriculum content, this chapter will attempt to shed light on: (a) the views of nature of science projected in the science education standards, (b) the depiction and description of the evolutionary emergence of life and concepts such as natural selection, mutation, and adaptation in the K-12 science content, (c) the history of science and evolution education in Iran, and (d) possible factors that have contributed to Iran’s relatively in-depth and accurate attention to evolution education when compared to neighboring countries in the region. There are areas pertaining to evolution education in Iran that remain unexplored and suitable for future research. Further inquiry is necessary into understanding the implementation of the Iranian evolution curriculum and the students, teachers, and general public’s beliefs and attitude with respect to evolution.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alters, B., & Alters, S. (2001). Defending evolution in the classroom: A guide to the creation/evolution controversy. Boston: Jones and Barlett Publishers.
Amani, M., Mahmudzadeh, G., Ershadi, N., Hosseini, A., Karam al-Dini, M., & Asbaghi, A. (2008). ‘Olum-e tajrobi sevvom rāhnemāyi. Tehran: Vezārat Amuzesh va Parvaresh.
Aramesh, K., & Dabbagh, S. (2007). An Islamic view to stem cell research and cloning: Iran’s experience. American Journal of Bioethics, 7(2), 62–63.
Asghar, A., Hameed, S., & Farahani, N. K. (2014). Evolution in biology textbooks: A comparative analysis of 5 Muslim countries. Journal of Religion & Education, 41(1), 1–15.
Asghar, A., Wiles, J. R., & Alters, B. (2007). Canadian pre-service elementary teachers’ conceptions of biological evolution and evolution education. McGill Journal of Education, 42, 189–209.
Bohannon, J. (2006). Science in Iran: Picking a path among the fatwas. Science, 313(5785), 292–293.
Bouhassira, E. (2015). The SAGE encyclopedia of stem cell research. Sage Publications.
Burton, E. (2010). Teaching evolution in Muslim states: Iran and Saudi Arabia compared. Reports of the National Center for Science Education, 30, 28–32.
Burton, E. (2011). Evolution and creationism in Middle Eastern education: A new perspective. Evolution, 65, 301–304.
Bucaille, M. (1982). The Bible, the Quran, and science: The holy scriptures examined in the light of modern knowledge. New York: Tahrike Tarsile Quran Inc.
Central Intelligence Agency. (2017). Iran. In The world factbook. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html.
Donnelly, L. A., Kazempour, M., & Amirshokoohi, A. (2008). High school students’ perceptions of evolution instruction: Acceptance and evolution learning experiences. Research in Science Education, 39, 643–660.
Edis, T. (2007). An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam. Amherst: Prometheus Books.
Edis, T. & BouJaoude, S. (2014). Rejecting Materialism: Muslim responses to modern science In M. Matthews (Ed.), The international handbook of research in history, philosophy and science teaching (pp. 1663–1691). New York, NY: Springer.
Ehsan, M. (2006). Islam and science: An Islamist revolution. Nature, 444(7115), 22–25.
Godazgar, H. (2008). The impact of religious factors on educational change in Iran: Islam in policy and Islam in practice. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.
Hameed, S. (2008). Bracing for Islamic creationism. Science, 322, 1637–1638.
Jafarzadeh, S. (2009). Iran at forefront of stem cell research. Washington Times.
Karam al-Dini, M., Bahbudi, B., Nikonam, V., Alavi, E., & Al-Mohammad, S. (2008). Zist shenāsi. Tehran: Vezārat Amuzesh va Parvaresh.
Khosrokhavar, F., Ghaneirad, M. A & Toloo, G. (2007). Institutional problems of the emerging scientific community in Iran. Science, Technology, and Society, 12(2) 171–200.
Loo, S. (2001). Islam, science and science education: Conflict or concord? Studies in Science Education, 36, 45–77.
Mansour, N. (2008). Religious beliefs: A hidden variable in the performance of science teachers in the classroom. European Educational Research Journal, 7(4), 557–576.
Mansour, N. (2011). Science teachers’ views of science and religion vs. the Islamic perspective: conflicting or compatible? Science Education, 95(2), 281–309.
Miller, J. D., Scott, E. C., & Okamoto, S. (2006). Science communication. Public acceptance of evolution. Science, 313, 765–766.
Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Goh, S., & Cotter, K. (Eds.). (2016). TIMSS 2015 encyclopedia: Education policy and curriculum in mathematics and science. Retrieved from Boston College.
Pennock, R. (2002). Should Creationism be Taught in the Public Schools? Science & Education, 11(2), 111–133.
Raman, A. (2006). Iran in the forefront when it comes to stem cell research. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/11/16/raman.iranstemcell/index.html?eref=rss_latest.
Sachedina, A. (2009). Islamic biomedical ethics: Principles and application. New York: Oxford University Press.
Saniei, M. (2012). Human embryonic stem cell research in Iran: The significance of the Islamic context. In M. C. Inhorn, & S. Tremayne (Eds.), Islam and assisted reproductive technologies: Sunni and Shia perspectives (pp. 194–219). New York: Berghahn Books.
Saniei, M. (2013). Human embryonic stem cell science and policy: The case of Iran. Social Science & Medicine, 98, 345–350.
Shanavas, T. (1999). Islam does not inhibit science. National Center for Science Education (NCSE) Report, 19, 36–37.
Stone, R. (2015). Unsanctioned science. Science, 349(6252), 1038–1043.
Tabatabaei, M. (2010). Islam and the contemporary man. ABWA Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/30561.
Trani, R. (2004). I won’t teach evolution: It’s against my religion. The American Biology Teacher, 66(6), 419–427.
Tehrani, M., Daneshfar, H., Shamim, M., Hosseini A., Pazashpur, M., Rastegar, T., … Ershadi, N. (2008). ‘Olum-e tajrobi panjom dabestān. Tehran: Vezārat Amuzesh va Parvaresh.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2015). Education Systems. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre. Retrieved from http://uis.unesco.org/en/country/ir?theme=education-and-literacy.
World Education Services. (2017). Education in Iran. Retrieved from http://wenr.wes.org/2017/02/education-in-iran.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kazempour, M., Amirshokoohi, A. (2018). Evolution Education in Iran: Shattering Myths About Teaching Evolution in an Islamic State. In: Deniz, H., Borgerding, L. (eds) Evolution Education Around the Globe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90939-4_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90939-4_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90938-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90939-4
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)