Dealing with creationist challenges. What European biology teachers might expect in the classroom

Abstract

Creationists are becoming more active in Europe. We expect that European biology teachers will be more frequently challenged by students who introduce creationist misconceptions of evolutionary theory into the classroom. Moreover, research suggests that not all teachers are equally prepared to deal with them. To make biology teachers aware of what they might be confronted with, we discuss three kinds of misconceptions that are common in creationist literature: misconstruing scientific methodology, making a straw man out of evolutionary theory, and demanding unreasonable evidence. We offer some suggestions as to how to deal with them, but we also note the importance of embedding this approach in a more comprehensive educational programme in which students learn to think critically and in which their moral concerns and worldview are taken into account. In addition, we invite biology teachers to reflect on their own knowledge and, if necessary, to refresh it by consulting accessible yet scientifically informed literature. Although our main concern lies with teachers in Europe, our approach might be valuable to biology teachers worldwide.

Keywords:

• teaching evolutionary theory
• misconceptions
• nature of science
• creationism

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants BOF08/24J/041 and COM07/PWM/001 from Ghent University and by the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO). Parts of this paper were presented at the Religious responses to Darwinism, 1859–2009 conference at St Anne’s College, Oxford and at the 150 years after Origin: biological, historical, and philosophical perspectives conference at Victoria College, University of Toronto.