Day 37 (August 1, 2011): A Day with the Teachers
It was interesting for me to hear that the teachers face many of the same concerns and roadblocks to teaching human evolution in the U.S. In some cases, the teachers may teach evolution by assigning readings to their students but avoid classroom discussion in order to sidestep challenges from students who’ve been taught that science and religion can never see eye-to-eye when it comes to evolution. In other cases, teachers may struggle with how teaching evolution may conflict with their own religious understandings, even while they appreciate that fossils, genetics, archeological finds in their own regions of the country are tremendously exciting in how they contribute to the science of human origins. Some teachers, however, teach the subject without ever thinking about the wider social impacts or the ways in which students may come from religious backgrounds that are at odds with the scientific narrative of human origins.