Education, Theology, and Science:  An effective approach to Origins Education depends on building a foundation of understanding about theology (this is the focus in Views of Creation) and science (this is mainly in Origins Evidence) in the other two areas you see above.
 

A Goal — Accurate Understanding with Respectful Attitudes
      To achieve accurate understanding in origins education, we need accurate information about a wide range of viewpoints.  But in reality there is often imbalance, and only one view (*) is presented in strong form.  When this happens it leads to incomplete, inaccurate understanding.  {* Which single view is presented?  This varies, depending on the teacher and educational context. }
      By contrast, a well balanced education is based on accurate information from all major viewpoints, as described in Views of Creation: "During a Monday debate, our teacher convinced us that ‘his side of the issue’ was correct, but on Tuesday he made the other side look just as good," thereby letting us learn that "if we wanted to get an accurate understanding... we should get the best information and arguments that all sides of an issue can claim as support.  When we did this and we understood more accurately, we usually recognized that even when we have valid reasons for preferring one position, people on other sides of an issue may also have good reasons for believing as they do, so we learned respectful attitudes."
      In most websites you'll get either Monday or Tuesday but not the other, and nothing more.  Instead, our "multiple positions" website will give you both Monday and Tuesday, plus Wednesday and more.  Our goal is to provide accurate information and arguments from a wide range of perspectives.  Although the result won't be perceived as NEUTRAL by everyone, we will try to be FAIR, by providing an opportunity for representatives of different perspectives to clearly express their own views and criticize other views.  

A Religious Perspective
      ASA is a Christian organization, and our perspectives — on faith, science, and their interactions — can be useful for public school teachers who want to minimize controversy (about their treatment of religion) while still providing educational information for their students, or for teachers in a private school or home school.
      A teacher (in K-12 or college, in a public or private school) who wants to use our religious perspective could: 
      • use the website to develop a better understanding of complex issues, then decide how to use this knowledge for teaching, or
      • tell students about the website and say "here is something you may (or may not) want to explore on your own," or
      • find appropriate web-pages that fulfill a specific educational function, and assign these for students to read.
 

Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy       When you are helping students learn about origins questions — how old is the universe (did it begin billions of years ago in a rapid ‘big bang’ expansion) and what can we learn from the fossil record, how did the first life arise, and did complex life (including humans) evolve from simple life? — do you feel like you're walking a tightrope?  Do you feel external pressures to teach unconventional theories (like young-earth creationism) or avoid questioning conventional theories (like neo-Darwinism), or both?  Do you feel internal tensions between your compassion (for students with personally meaningful beliefs about origins) and your responsibility (to teach with scientific integrity, to accurately teach the scientific evidence-and-logic that might affect these beliefs)?       In 1986, we (in the American Scientific Affiliation) published a booklet about origins education, and we called it Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy because "a climate of controversy" is what you often feel.  We also feel this, in our empathy for embattled teachers, and we want to help.  We know that, as a busy teacher, your time is limited, so our website offers a "Cliffs Notes" condensation of important ideas, so you can learn quickly.  But you'll also have many opportunities for exploration, to gain a wider, deeper understanding.

 
Real-Life Drama about People and Their Ideas
      Fictional stories that illustrate real-life drama are scattered throughout an Introductory FAQ and are collected together in another page.  Here are excerpts, with introductions and the beginnings of five stories:
      In this FAQ you'll see the raw material for exciting real-life drama of people and their ideas.  The drama is produced by encounters between people with contrasting ideas.  Too often, unfortunately, each of the differing ideas is held with a confident passion by individuals and groups who behave as if they think people with other views are enemies who must be fought and conquered.  But the ideas do have important implications and applications, especially in education.  .....
      You can get a feeling for what often happens in real life by using your imagination to visualize the ideas and feelings in five common situations where we see dramatic conflict. ...  These stories illustrate conflicts — internal and external, within people and between people — that commonly occur.  Imagine that:
      • your pastor confidently declares that "the Bible says the earth is young, so you should believe it."  But your teacher for Sunday School explains why..., and you have questions.
      • you are a flexible agnostic, uncertain about God but willing to search for truth.  You hear Richard Dawkins declare that...  But another respected scientist explains why...
     The questions in Sections 1-7 often produce uncertainties and conflicts within a person.  But when we make decisions about education, internal personal questions can become external interpersonal tensions, and conflicts become visible and vocal. ...  Imagine that:
      • you are a public school teacher who is wondering what to teach about origins: ...  If you think "maybe..." will you get in trouble with...?  But if you don't,...  What is the best way to survive and thrive in the current climate of controversy?
      • you're a science teacher in a private Christian school, and last year several parents didn't like what you said about the "when and how" of creation, and they removed their children from your school ...
      • you are the friend of a student who is a Christian, who has been taught by her parents (and by her pastor, and...) that...  How do you think she will respond — and what will happen with her interest in science, her views about creation, and the quality of her faith — in each of these five situations: ...
 

Resources for Teachers

 
Origins Education in Different Contexts
An educational question — how should theories about "origins questions" be taught? — will be examined in three contexts: in public schools, Christian education (in church, school, and home), and informal education.