RE: teaching evolution in Wisconsin

Steve Clark (ssclark@facstaff.wisc.edu)
Tue, 28 Sep 1999 14:22:31 -0500

At 01:57 PM 9/28/99 -0700, Arthur V. Chadwick wrote:
>At 01:13 PM 09/28/1999 -0500, Steve wrote:
>
>>Having said all that, I firmly believe that evolution should be taught in a
>>fair and accurate way--explaining its weaknesses as well as strengths.
>
>I think that statement encapsulates the root of the whole present conflict.
> If this feeling and practice were widespread, the issue in Kansas might
>not exist. However, how are you going to find thousands of high school
>teachers with sufficient background in the issues involved to entrust them
>with this responsibility, even if it *were* possible, to present the data
>fairhandedly. They would need a very different education than I suspect
>most of them have had in philosophy and the appropriate issues in science.

I bet that most high school science teachers have not been educated at all
in philosophy. And I'm not sure that better philosophy education would
help. I do agree with Art that high school biology (indeed, even intro
biology profs in college) may not be well educated in evolutionary biology.
In fact the public as a whole seems to have a poor understanding about
evolution (in one letter in the local newspaper, the writer stated that he
was taller than his father and that his son is taller than he is--egro
evolution!!). Given the intense nature of the debate, the lack of
understanding is truely frightening.

>And then there are the issues of their own spiritual joirney that must be
>dealt with. I don't doubt Steve's ability to finesse this at the college
>level. How many others would be as open-minded and how many particularly
>at the high school level where the students are much more susceptible to
>pressures from either side?

Do these problems also arise when evolution is talked about in Sunday schools?

Steve