Is ‘Learning' Science Enough? – A Cultural Model of Religious Students of Science in an Australian Government School

Ferguson, Joseph; Kameniar, Barbara

doi:10.1080/09500693.2014.904060

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Pittinsky () advocates showing less disdain and more respect and for those who do not acknowledge established scientific theories; they are not “stupid” because they cannot see evolution or climate change with their own eyes and do not feel obliged to take someone else's word for it. In short, “the most fruitful pedagogical path for evolution education is one filled with respect” (Colburn and Henriques, ; Long, : 135; Ferguson and Kameniar, ), and science should not be taught in a way that religious students feel they have to denounce it to defend their religion (Ferguson and Kameniar, ). If we force the choice between a student's soul and science when attempting to teach about evolution, we are doomed to failure (Glaze and Goldston, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hermann () referred to a process called “cognitive apartheid” (Coburn, ), in which students can simply wall off that which is believed from that which is not believed, for two high school students who demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of evolution despite their insistence that they did not believe in evolution; other studies have proposed a similar phenomenon (McKeachie et al, ; Ingram and Nelson, ). In their study of four religious high school students studying evolutionary biology, Ferguson and Kameniar () describe believing and learning schemas as ways the students classified religious explanations and evolutionary biology, with the latter being made subordinate to the former, as the mechanism by which these students were able to maintain their existential foundation while fulfilling their school commitments. All of these students perceived evolutionary biology to be in direct conflict with their religions explanation of origins and their learning schema was basically the acquisition of knowledge in order to succeed on tests rather than engaging in what the authors (and undoubtedly others) would call “meaningful” learning in which true knowledge about and understanding of the natural world is sought.…”

Section: Obstacles To Teaching and Learning Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies that have found a positive correlation between understanding and acceptance of evolution support the idea that effective evolution instruction is one course of action to improve the public's acceptance of evolution (Gregory, ; Rice et al, ), but it is clear that this is not enough (Nehm and Schonfeld, ; Hermann, ). The teaching of evolution should be done with acknowledgement of, respect for, and sensitivity to students’ and teachers’ beliefs; it is only by negotiating this conflict, rather than ignoring it or exacerbating it, can there be a pervasive change with respect to teaching and learning evolution in the classroom (Brem et al, ; Sinatra et al, ; Jakobi, ; Mead and Branch, ; Werth, ; Bramschreiber, ; Glaze, ; Ferguson and Kameniar, ). A study of pre‐service teachers found that their interest in discussion creationism in the classroom was not with the intent of “teaching both sides” as a matter of fairness, but as an effective way of connecting with religious students, make them feel at ease, and diffuse situations (Berkman and Plutzer, ).…”

Section: Opportunities For Teaching (Human) Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities

Pobiner

2016

American J Phys Anthropol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Questions about our origin as a species are universal and compelling. Evolution-and in particular human evolution-is a subject that generates intense interest across the world, evidenced by the fact that fossil and DNA discoveries grace the covers of major science journals and magazines as well as other popular print and online media. However, virtually all national polls indicate that the majority of Americans strongly reject biological evolution as a fact-based, well-tested, and robust understanding of the history of life. In the popular mind, no topic in all of science is more contentious or polarizing than evolution and media sources often only serve to magnify this polarization by covering challenges to the teaching of evolution. In the realm of teaching, debates about evolution have shaped textbooks, curricula, standards, and policy. Challenges to accepting and understanding evolution include mistrust and denial of science, cognitive obstacles and misconceptions, language and terminology, and a religious worldview, among others. Teachers, who are on the front lines of these challenges, must be armed with the tools and techniques to teach evolution in formal education settings across grades K-16 in a straightforward, thorough, and sensitive way. Despite the potentially controversial topic of human evolution, growing research is demonstrating that a pedagogical focus on human examples is an effective and engaging way to teach core concepts of evolutionary biology. Am J Phys Anthropol 159:S232-S274,

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Obstacles To Teaching and Learning Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Opportunities For Teaching (Human) Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities

Pobiner

2016

American J Phys Anthropol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, an important consideration is that highly committed religious clients use religious constructs in thinking and decision making (Ferguson & Kameniar, 2014;Worthington, 1988). Thus, counselors are presented with unique challenges when faith is a prominent clinical variable.…”

Section: Faith As a Cultural Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

Faith as a Cultural Variable: Implications for Counselor Training

Scott

Sheperis

Simmons

et al. 2016

Counseling and Values

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Counselors are faced with a unique challenge when faith is a prominent clinical variable. Although faith is deemed relevant, counselors may not feel comfortable approaching the subject of faith with clients. Participants in this study were practicing counselors licensed in their respective states; each was also a current doctoral candidate in counselor education and supervision. A scenario involving a complex interaction of faith; family systems; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues in clinical practice was provided. Participants were found to be more likely to value the importance of addressing faith in sessions than they were to actually use faith as an intervention.

show abstract

“…Therefore, when these actors are necessarily placed within social learning environment, these intrinsic understandings are likely to influence their teaching and learning practices and how they interact with school students. This is because science teachers and students have their own customs, principles, belief systems, desires and expectations (Aikenhead 1996) which may need to be rearranged and re-interpreted when dealing with conflicting 'believing schemas' (Ferguson and Kameniar 2014).…”

Section: Science and Worldviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science initial teacher education and superdiversity: educating science teachers for a multi-religious and globalised science classroom

Carvalho¹

2016

Cult Stud of Sci Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Steven Vertovec (2006, 2007) has recently offered a re-interpretation of population diversity in large urban centres due to a considerable increase in immigration patterns in the UK. This complex scenario called superdiversity has been conceptualised to help illuminate significant interactions of variables such as religion, language, gender, age, nationality, labour market and population distribution on a larger scale. The interrelationships of these themes have fundamental implications in a variety of community environments, but especially within our schools. Today, London schools have over 300 languages being spoken by students, all of whom have diverse backgrounds, bringing with them a wealth of experience and, most critically, their own set of religious beliefs. At the same time, Science is a compulsory subject in England's national curriculum, where it requires teachers to deal with important scientific frameworks about the world; teaching about the origins of the universe, life on Earth, human evolution and other topics, which are often in conflict with students' religious views. In order to cope with this dynamic and thought-provoking environment, science initial teacher education (SITE)-especially those catering large urban centres-must evolve to equip science teachers with a meaningful understanding of how to handle a superdiverse science classroom, taking the discourse of inclusion beyond its formal boundaries. Thus, this original position paper addresses how the role of SITE may be re-conceptualised and re-framed in light of the immense challenges of superdiversity as well as how science teachers, as enactors of the science curriculum, must adapt to cater to these changes. This is also the first in a series of papers emerging from an empirical research project trying to capture science teacher educators' own views on religioscientific issues and their positions on the place of these issues within science teacher education and the science classroom. Science and superdiversity Recently, Steven Vertovec (2006, 2007) offered a re-interpretation of population diversity in large urban constituencies due to a considerable increase in immigration patterns, especially within the UK. This scenario, dubbed superdiversity, has been conceptualised to help illuminate the significant and complex interactions of variables such as religion, language, gender, age, nationality, labour market and population distribution on a larger scale. The interrelationships between these themes have fundamental implications in a variety of community environments, but especially within our schools. Today, for example, London state schools have over 300 languages spoken (Von Ahn, Lupton, Greenwood and Wiggins 2010) by their students, all of whom have their own particular cultural background, bringing with them a wealth of experience and, most critically, their own set of religious or non-religious beliefs, worldviews and indigenous knowledge. Science is a compulsory subject in England's National Curriculum where it requires students to ...

show abstract

Is ‘Learning' Science Enough? – A Cultural Model of Religious Students of Science in an Australian Government School

Cited by 13 publications

References 36 publications

Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities

Accepting, understanding, teaching, and learning (human) evolution: Obstacles and opportunities

Faith as a Cultural Variable: Implications for Counselor Training

Science initial teacher education and superdiversity: educating science teachers for a multi-religious and globalised science classroom

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About