Secondary School Learners’ Response to the Teaching of Evolution in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Mpeta, Mamotena; Villiers, J.J.R. De; Fraser, William

doi:10.1080/00219266.2014.914555

Cited by 8 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The remaining 13 publications are journal articles. Of these, three studies analysed the influence of textbooks and the curriculum statement on learning evolution 5,14,17 ; four focused on teacher reactions to and acceptance of teaching evolution 1,3,4,11 ; and six studies reported on student reactions to, and acceptance of learning about, evolution 8,15,16,[18][19][20] .…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A person's worldview predisposes them to a specific way of thinking that is constructed through life experiences. 13,19,20 Worldviews are generally subconscious, culturally dependent and nonrational. 13 They form the fundamental organisation of a person's mind and create the assumptions that predispose a person to think, feel and act in a predictable manner.…”

Section: Contention With Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conversely, someone might reject an idea as untrue simply because it opposes their worldview. 19 Sanders and Kagan 20 use the framework of border crossing to explore the understanding and acceptance of evolution among Grade-12 students in a Jewish school. Border crossing is an apt framework to use when one considers science and religion as two different worldviews: these religious students entering a science classroom have to transition from their personal and familiar worldview to that prescribed by science, analogous to crossing the border from one's country to another.…”

Section: Contention With Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mpeta and colleagues 19 used the updated MATE to assess the acceptance of evolution among Grade-12 Life Sciences students in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province. They found that, although most of the respondents in their sample subscribed to some form of religious worldview, almost half of the students accepted the theory of evolution as scientifically valid.…”

Section: Accepting Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They found that, although most of the respondents in their sample subscribed to some form of religious worldview, almost half of the students accepted the theory of evolution as scientifically valid. 19 However, some students experienced a hazardous or even insurmountable border crossing; so opposed were they to evolution that they had no interest in learning about it.…”

Section: Accepting Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human evolution in the South African school curriculum

Sutherland¹,

L'Abbé²

2019

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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A decade after the introduction of the topic into the South African public school curriculum, the theory of evolution by natural selection is poorly understood among those who teach it, and that flawed understanding is transferred to those attempting to learn it. The curricula, support material and textbooks designed to underpin teaching and learning of evolution are often inaccurate. Deeply held religious views in the country, especially Christianity, remain a stumbling block towards understanding and accepting evolution. The lack of scientific literacy allows for the continuation of Social Darwinism and racial stereotypes and deprives the victims of those ills of the knowledge and mechanisms of thought to counter these ideas. This review explores the relatively sparse but nevertheless well-conducted research into evolution education in South Africa. We conclude that an understanding of human evolution is essential to the country’s growing democracy because it provides a framework within which South Africans can understand and appreciate the diversity and heterogeneous nature of our society.

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