CREATIONIST CONCEPTI ONS

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1 PART 4 Sürucs CunntcuLuM AND EvALUATtoN CREATIONIST CONCEPTI ONS OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN NINETEEN COUNTRIES Pierre Clément University Lyon 1, France Marie Pierre Quessada IUFM, University Montpellier 2, F tance François Munoz University Montpellier 2, F rance Chadine Laurent University Lyon 1., France Adrtana Valente CNR, Rome, Italy Graça S. Carvalho University of Minho, Bnga, Portugal Abstract Our work fu tbe frct iníernational comparhon of teacher' conceptiont on EuoluÍion f Creation, using uaeral que$iont on precirc and large nnpb to idenrifl the importance of creationi$ idtat in the context of theìr national, relìgious, econonic, caltural and poktical backgrounh. Thh rerearch clncelní 19 counliet: 13 in Europa 5 ìn Afrìca and ore ìn Middle Ea$: 7050 teacherc flled out a que$ionnaire includingseueral queúions on Eaolztion at Creaíion. Haf of then are in-yruice teacher, the orlter beingat the la$yar of Uniuerci! before teachìng. Thel are teaching in Piaary Schoolt as well at fu Secondary or lznguage). Tbe perceiltaget of teachers' radical creationi$ concepíions dffir nore fron one couníry lo anotlser frorn 2% to 90%) lhan among relìgionr inide each czuilttj. There are nme, buí noí n ìmportanl, dfferences between Biokg Íeachers and oíher teachert. The teachers' conceptiont aln dffirwilh the leue/of teacheríraining nore Íhe1 are ìn$racted (ìn ary naírer), more thel are euolutionhl. Introduction Although schools aíe the coíe taígets of the anti-evolutionist offensive (IÂP, 2006), relatively few studies have assessed teachers' conceptions of the issue and not one has focused on an international comparison of them. Prior to our project, there had been few srrveys (ItÍiller, 2006 ; Special Eurobarometer, 2005) which assessed úe spread of creationist and f or evolutionist ideas among adults. The most documented one to out knowledge (À4ìller, 2006) compiled several polls from 34 countries (of which 32 wete in Europe, includrng Turkey; plus Japan and Uruted States). Its results shovred that the U.S. and Turkey were úe most creationist countries. A recent work Ë $ 447

2 Contemporary ScÍence Education Research: INTERNATIIN At Penswcnws ftiameed, 2008) published data gathered from only one question rn srx Mushm counüies, others úan those analysed in the presenr work, showrng a high reject (61 to 73o/o) of Evolution in Frve of them, but a less important reject QTYr) n Kazakhstan.!7e distingutshed anti-evolutionist conceptions (radical creationism) from conceptions which wete both creationist and evolutionist. In his famous papet t'nothing in biotogy raaker rente excepí in the lìght of euo/atì0n", Dobzhansky(1973)wrote "IamacreaÍìoni$andaneuolutìonìú.EuolufionisGod'torNature't,nethodofCreation".\,tten teachers have this krnd of "creationist-evolutionist conception" they can teach biologrcal evolution at school.vithout problem. Rationale What are, in the 19 countries chosen by their diversity (inside Europe, and also outside) the teachets' conceptions on biologrcal Evolution f Crcaaon? Is it possible, using several guestions on precise and large samples, to identify the importance of their possible creationist ideas in úe context of their national, lsligíous, economic, cultural and poütical backgrounds? Our work is the fust intemational comparison of this size analysing the teachers' conceptions related to this topic. His fust results were akeady published (Clément & Quessada, 2008,2009), Methods This research has been done in the context of the research project BIOHEÂD-Cittzen in 19 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East) (Biohead-Ciúen, ). The 19 countries wete selected for their diversity of economic development and socio-cultural contexts, especially regrding lgl.igion (table 1)' Between 2006 and 2007, a total of 7,050 teachers anonyrnously filled out a guestionnaire which included fifteen questions related to Evolution (six of which were related to creationism) as well as questions regarding personal information (such as age, gender, and socio-cultural information including poliucal and religious beliefs). The sample was a balanced set of in-serv-ice teachers and pre-service teacheís (i.e. adults in their last year of teacher traioing), in both pnmary and secondary schools, who taught biology or the national language. The table 1 píeseots the total sampling of each country, with more precisions regarding the declared teachers' religions. The questionnaire has been bút during the rwo lnst years of the project (2004-6), then tested (pilot test and other tests), ttanslated, validated and finally improved (Clément & Carvalho, 2007), The data ate analysed by classical statistical tests as well as by multivariate analyses (software "R") (À4unoz & Clément, 2007 ;Mtnoz et a1,,2009). fl ++s

3 PART 4 S cttt't ce Cunntcuruu euo EveLUATtz N Table 1. Presentation of the samples for the 19 countries - "biologists" are the in-service and pre-sewice biology teachers * othet teachers having a training in biology at University (some Primary school teachers). - Other = mainly oo answer to the question * all the other religions. BF DE DZ Country Butkina Faso Total including o'4 Atheíst' % /o %%% biologists Agnostic Catholic Ptotestant Orthodox Musüm Other 110 2,4 45,6 Cyprus 322 4,0 9,0 1,2 8,4 Germany Algena Estonia 182 Finland 13'.t 1.3,4 1., "],4 1,21 F'R France GB Great Britain 1,54 15,0 50,5.fíl f 7,7 1, ,6 ]t,8 14,8 1., ,0 33,8 HU Hungary L2 1.5,3 46,,+ 16,2 LT PL Italy ,3 7tì 7 Lebanon ,4 21,,1 0,4 R? 6ir,0 4,8 Lithuania 31,6 Malta 198 Poland ,1 Portugal RO Romania 273 t27 SN Senegal 324 0,5 4, ,ó 0,6 0,5 1,9 9ó.5 t)^ ) 1,11 9,4 i6,3 120 Tunisia ,9 1,9 Total ,8 35,1 8,3 7,4 29,6 7,8 8,1 8,3 1,0 0,6 7,4 7,0?o o? 0,3 tl I 24,7 0,3 ql() 0,5 1,5 9i,3 Rc) t {)6,0 8,8 c) c) 6,7 31,,3 1,4,7 7,7 21,,4 8,4 5,1 2,1 )o 7) 6,6 1,5 2,1 Results 1 - National context, behef in God and GDP In several countries, most of the teachers display creationist conceptions. There is averylargecontíast across countíies: for instance, for a question related to the origin of life, from 2o/o to 9Oo/o of,,.ücal cteationist conceptions, Flgure 1). There is a very sigrufrcant correlation between such conceptions, belief in God and reügron practice and also a stíong inverse correlation with the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per person. The GDP/person (Gross Domeslic Product / petson) is correlated with the degree of belief rn God (r = - 0.ó9, p-value = 0.001) and of religious practice (r = , p-value = ) and also with the teachers'creationist conceptions (r = , p-value = ). t, 449

4 Contemporary Science EducqtÍon Research: I urgnlunn ottet Prnspscnvss Â!64-2,723 Biologist têâcheís A& - 4,327 Non-biologist teachers France (n=3'19) Estonia (108) Portugal (111) Germany (131) Finland (121) u.k (142) Italy (150) Lithuania (98) Hungary (112) Cì/prus (66) Malta (48) Poland (gg) Romania (127) Faso (110) ïunisia (326) Lebanon (261) Senegal (120) Moroôôo {18ô) AÌgeria (88) France (n=413) Estonia (74) Portugal (239) Germany (234) Finland (185) u.k. í2) Italy (409) Lithuania (218) Hungary (222) Cyprus (256) Malta (150) Poland (212) Romania (146) Faso (186) Tunisia (427) Lebanon {4ô1) Senegal (204) Morocoo (144) Algeria (135) A64-3,648 christian teachers France {n=304) Germany (280) Estonia (52) Portugal (295) Finland (221) u.k. (84) Lithuania (288) ttaly U44) Hungary (221) Malta (193) Cyprus (285) Poland (295) Senegal (27) Romania (250) na-faso (192) Lebanon (217) Teachers' level oítraining (n = 7,050) (n=1 61 3) il (3742) ilr (1695) Level of training: I - < 2years at university. II = 3 or 4 years at universiry. Ill = > 5yearsatuniversiry. A64- \tr/hich of rlte folbwircgfoar statementr dolou agve nirh dse msst? (tick onfi ONE awwer) h h certain rhat rhe orign of life rvsultedfrvn naturalphenomena. The oigìn of üfe nry be natura! phenzrzeftã withoat rcnddering tbe fupthub The origin oí W,ol be explaìned fot naturalphenomena íhat are gouerued b1 Cod. that Cod crvand üfe. It ìs cernin tha Cod crvand üfe. Figure 1. Answers to question 464 ("origln of life") in úe 19 countries (71050 teachers) {+so}

5 PART 4 Sumct Cunntcutuu ltto EveLUATIqN A large proportion of creationist teachers also acknowledge evolutionary processes (for example, in the Figwe 1: item 3: "The orìgìn oí W *ol be explaìned b1 natural phenlnena íhat are gouemed fui Cod'). The percentage of radical creationist conceptions related to the ongins of mankind is similar to those of the otigins of life, with the same, marked differences between countries. The answers to the four other questions telated to creationism are sigruficantty correlated with those from the questions on origins of üfe (figure 1) and of humankind. 2 - No (or few) difference befween religions inside each country The percentage of teachers' creationist conceptioos differs more between countties than between religions within the same country. Among the 3,648 Christian teachets, the percentage of evolutionists vades greatly: from 97o/o rn France to 360/o in Lebanon (Ftgure 1c). N{ore precisely, in each country, there is no significant difference between conceptions of Catholic and Protestant teachers (Clu2 test), In our samples, Orthodox teachers vere dominant in Cyprus QTok) and Romania QlYo), and less Present in Lebanon (8%) (Iable 1). Their ans$/ers about the origrn of life are not significantly diffetent from those of Caúoüc teachers G>0.05, Chi2 test) within each of these three countries. In Burkina Faso and Lebanon, there were Muslim and Christian teachers (fable 1). In Burkina Faso,407o of the Muslim teachers are raücai creationists compared to 53o/o of Christian teachets, whereas the trend is reversed in Lebanon where the proportion of ndical creationist arìsv/ers is higher among Muslim as opposed to Christian reachers (80% compared to 65%). In summary, the proportions of creationist and evolutionist conceptions do not vary, ot vary scarcely, withrn the same country according to the reügion of the teachers, but when one takes into account teachers who share the same reügion, they vary very sttongly from one country to another. This conclusion does not concern agnostic or atheist teachers who are evolutjonist regardless oftherr country. 3 - The influence of universiry teacher training A ChP test (with Bonferroni's correction) shovrs that biologists are more evolutionist than non-biologists. As explained in the legend of the table 1, "biologists" are the in-service and pte-service biology teachers * other teachers havrng a tratntng in biology at University (some Primary school teachers). Nevertheless, the figures 1a & 1b show that the difference between biologrst and other teachers is not so important; the difference is signihcant in only 9 countries among the 19. We aiso found that the greater length of time a teacher studied at university, the more evolutionist he or she is, regardless of the subject he or she teaches in pnmary or secondary schools. Of the total sample of 7,050 teachers, the proportion of tadical creationists (Fg.tr. 1d) is 20o/o after 5 years oí moíe of university,3to/o aftet 3 or 4 yearc, and 530/o after 2 years or less. These diffetences are the same for the 5 other questions related to creationism. Since this effect may be a bias resulting from the lower level of teacher qualification in less developed countries, \Ã/e tested the variation in conceptions across number of years spent at university when the vaíiation acíoss countries and reügrons was controlled. A randomization test confirmed the effect of the length of teacher taining at uaiversity (pvalue ( 0.001). 451 'ü

6 Contemporary Science Education Research: I NTERNArroNAt Prnspncnves Conclusions and Implications \)7e lust summarized our results here, answering to the research questions: there are very important differences of teachers' conceptions on Evolution f Crcattot from one countíy to an other. Ând we identified, using several questions on precise and large samples, strong cotrelations between creationist ideas and some othet fearures than their nationality: degree of believing in God and of religious practice (but very few with other political of social These results could be discussed more precisely country by country. We just wish to conclude here that they offer encoììragement to teach Evolution in schools in a more effective way, and, more generally speaking, the longer is the period ofteacher training at university, the greater the acceptance ofevolutionist ideas. Acknowledgements. This work was financed by the European Commission, FP6-STREP project BIOHEÂD-Ctttzen CIT2-CT The authors are from three of the sample countries. They thank their colleagues from the other 16 countries and the following team leaders: Farida l(hammar (Algeria), Nicos Valanides (Cyprus), Tago Anna-Lisa Rauma (Finland), Franz Bogner (Germany), Attila Varga (I{ungary), Ìman Khaül (I-ebanon), Jurga Turcinaviciene pithuarua), Paul Pace (N{alta), Sabah Selmaoú (X4orocco), Elwira Samonek-Miciuk (Poland), Adrienne Kozan (Lomania), Mame Seyni Thraw (Senegal), Mondher Abrougú Q'unisia), Stephen Tomkins (JÇ, and Ivette Béré-Yoda (Burkina Faso). They also acknowledge the group I'Evolution; ISCC-CNRS, France) for its financial help to improve the Engüsh. References BIOHEAD-Ciüen (Biology, Health and Environmental Education for better Crúenship), , coordinated by G.Carvalho, P.Clément & F.Bogner. btfi; / / oroiectos.iec.uminho.rjtlproieluopa/ Retrieved 5 October Clément P. & Quessada M.P., Les convictioos créationnistes et/ou évolutionnistes d'enseignants de biologie : une érude comparative dans 19 pays. Naturu Scìences Socìélét, 16 : Clément P. & Quessada M.P., Creattonist Beüefs in Europe. Scìence, 324,26 June 2009: 1,644. Clément P. & Carvalho G., Biology, Health and Environmental Education for better Ciúenship: teachers' conceptions and textbook analysis in 19 countries. ll/cces XIil (lyorld Council of Conparaíìue Edacation Socìetie\ Sarajevo, CD-Rom, 15 pp. Dobzhansky T., Nothrng in biology makes sense except in light of evolution. Aneican Biolog Teacher,35: Hameed S., Bracing for Islamic Creationism. Scìence,322, 1.2Dec.2008: IAP (InterAcademy Panel) Statement on the Teaching of Evolutìon, /6 /1,50 /Fvolutiono/o20statement.pdf. N{illerJ.D., Scott 8.C., Okamoto S., Public Acceptance of Evolution, Scìence,313, 5788: Munoz F. & ClémentP., Des méthodes statisúques originales pour analyser les conceptions d'enseignants de plusieurs pays à parú d'un questionnaire sut des questions vives. Acíu Colloque AREF (Actualité dc la Recherche en Edacation et en Forrnation), Strasbourg, 470 (1,2 pp.) : fiie:///volumes/actes?'o20aref9/p2020q7lactes.html Munoz F., Bogner F., Clément P. & Carvalho G., Teachers' conceptions of nature and environment in 16 countries. Jouma/ of Enuìronmeníal Pychology. n ptess. doi: /j.enr.p Special Eurobarometer Earopean, Scìence d2 Technology (E'ot. Comm.), 2005 httn: / / ec.errooa.eu/oublic ooinion/archives/ebs/ebs 224 renort en-ndf t4 tç +sz!

7 CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH: I NTERNATIONAT PE RSPE CTIVES Edited by MEHMET FATIH rasen Gazi Üniversitesí, Ankara, TURKEY Gültekin ÇAKMAKCI Hacettepe Üniversítesi, Ankara, T{J RKEY ÂKÂNËMI

8 rsbn Copyright ESERA,2al0 Referencing articles in this book The appropriate APA style referencing of arücles in this book is as follows: Marulcu, I., & Barnett, M. [2010). Tensions that students face in the lego-engineering designbased simple machines module. In M.F. Taçar & G. Çakmakcr (Eds.), Contemporary science education research: international perspectives (pp ). Ankara, Turkey: Pegem Akademi. The copyrights of individual papers remain with the authors. A 3-page synopsis of each paper in this book was reviewed by two referees of an international panel and where appropriate and possible suggestions were made for improvement Additionally, authors had the opportunity to gather ideas from colleagues during their presentations at the ESERA 2009 Conference before they submitted the full-text papers for this collection. Decisions and responsibility for adapting or using partly or in whoìe any of the methods, ideas, or the like presented in this book soìely depends on the readers'own judgment ESERA or the editors do not necessarily endorse or share the ideas and views presented or suggest or imply the use of the methods included in this book. IV

Creationist conceptions of primary and secondary school teachers in nineteen countries.

Creationist conceptions of primary and secondary school teachers in nineteen countries. Pierre Clément, Marie-Pierre Quessada, François Munoz, Charline Laurent, Adriana Valente, Graça S. Carvalho To cite