Neanderthals in the Classroom PDF
Preview Neanderthals in the Classroom
Neanderthals in the Classroom Elizabeth Watts Research Group for Biology Education Institute for Zoology and Evolutionary Research Faculty of Biological Sciences Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany p, p, A SCIENCE PUBLISHERS BOOK A SCIENCE PUBLISHERS BOOK Cover image: "The Thinker" at State Museum of Prehistory in Halle, Germany Credit: State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt; Photographer: Juraj Lipták CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2020 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Printed on acid-free paper Version Date: 20190819 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-138-47637-0 (Hardback) Th is book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. 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Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com For Zoey—my thunder & joy Organic life beneath the shoreless waves Was born and nurs’d in ocean’s pearly caves; First forms minute, unseen by spheric glass, Move on the mud, or pierce the watery mass; These, as successive generations bloom, New powers acquire and larger limbs assume; Whence countless groups of vegetation spring, And breathing realms of fin and feet and wing. - Erasmus Darwin. The Temple of Nature. 1802. Foreword Much to Like About Neanderthals in the Classroom Neanderthals in the Classroom (hereafter Neanderthals) is an important book for science educators, of many types, situated in many parts of the world. Importantly, the topics of creation science and evolution have been of interest to Elizabeth Watts in many facets of her life, giving her the drive to do the research necessary to write a comprehensive book. Her inquiries have yielded a panorama of the battles that have raged in regard to the inclusion of evolution in a science curriculum for all. Watts colorfully illustrates the struggles of those who are not only opposed to a requirement that they must learn about evolution, but also to others learning about evolution and acting in the world in ways that diminish their identities—those who accept literal understandings of creation as it is laid out in the Bible. Watts uses multiple methods to present the problem of creationism versus evolution in a deep context informed through a variety of lenses. The narratives Watts presents, including interviews with converted creationists, are compelling and bring central facets of the problem to life. These stories connect well with theories grounded in neuroscience that highlight the centrality to learning of creation and retention of negative emotions, such as anger and fear, emanating from knowledge of evolution undermining the identities of those whose beliefs about creation are grounded in literal interpretations of the Bible, reinforced by families and tight-knit fundamentalist communities. Watts has examined the creationism versus evolution issues historically—and to the extent to which it is relevant, the legal milestones—legislative and prosecutorial. Watts uses lenses that range from nations and states to schools, classrooms, families, and individuals. In so doing she examines concept learning in a context of emotional flux, resistance in the face of identity change, and physiological changes as individual’s autonomic systems detect physical and social danger as learners create anger and fear based on their understandings of the consequences of disobeying tenets of the Bible and interpretations of those who teach religion in a fundamentalist way. Watts’ approaches provide the groundwork to consider ways in which teachers enact a curriculum to support conceptual change about understanding evolution and how to ameliorate and be more aware of negative emotions, their origins, and consequences. Readers of Neanderthals consider emotions and their manifestation in the body, especially as it relates to social communication (parasympathetic) and fight-flight actions (sympathetic) of learners (Porges 2011). Watts considers interventions that viii Neanderthals in the Classroom include the use of heuristics to illuminate characteristics of a class in which students learn about evolution, breathing meditation to ameliorate emotions, and strategies to promote mindfulness to ensure that negative emotions do not stick to ongoing conduct—thereby promoting environments that are not conducive to learning. Watts is clear that science for all includes all students learning about evolution. She provides ample support for readers to enact curricula to promote learning and for teacher educators and policy makers to build an infrastructure of support for teachers, learners, and families and communities that are affected when evolution and beliefs about creation are conflictive. All stakeholders can learn from careful reading of Neanderthals. Is Creationism versus Evolution just an American Problem? In 2009, Hisashi Otsuji and colleagues were presenting a paper on undercurrents of Buddhism in contemporary practices of science education in Japan (Otsuji et al. 2009). The occasion was the first biennial conference of the East Asian Science Education Association, held in Taiwan. Within moments of beginning the address, Otsuji was asked a question about the challenges of creationism while seeking to teach evolution. For a moment, Otsuji looked exasperated at the question being posed. He then responded, to the effect, that Shintoism and Buddhism comprised more than 95% of religious followers in Japan, compared to approximately 1% Christians. Otsuji continued, “creationism is not a big problem in Japan, so we will focus on the problems in Japan.” As a segue to Otsuji continuing his presentation, someone in the audience interjected, “creationism is an American problem.” The distribution of religious followers in Japan is strikingly different than the United States, and also the world. A 2017 study of the changing global religious landscape, undertaken by the Pew Foundation, shows that Christians have the largest following and will not be surpassed by Muslims until much later in this century. The present world ranking of religious followers is Christians, Muslims, unaffiliated, Hindus, and Buddhists. Accordingly, demographics suggest there is a potential for creationism to be a worldwide problem, especially within some Christian communities. Based on these demographic trends, the creation—evolution dilemma, which is a central focus of Neanderthals, has relevance to science educators throughout the world. In addition, Watts has looked in depth at numerous issues that have considerable relevance to educators (e.g., teachers, students, teacher educators, researchers, policymakers) throughout the world. Putting this another way, the case of creation science and teaching evolution can be considered as a context that shines light on myriad problems. Hence, Neanderthals is a useful resource for educators writ large. Watts thoughtfully addresses issues that will no doubt catch the attention of readers as they consider challenges they face, wherever and however, they are situated in global education. Foreword ix Freedom to Make Sense of Religion and its Texts The following quote from Osho (also known as Rajneesh), who is a spiritual leader, provides some remarks on Taoism—extreme perspectives on religion and freedom (Osho 2005, pp. 4–5): Christianity, Hinduism, Mohammedanism are super-highways: you need not risk anything, you simply follow the crowd, you go with the mob. With Tao you have to go alone, you have to be alone. Tao respects freedom and not conformity. Tao has no tradition. Tao is a rebellion, and the greatest rebellion possible… . Tao says that if you impose a discipline on yourself, you will be a slave. The discipline has to arise out of your awareness, then you will be a master. If you impose order on your life this will be just a pretension: the disorder will remain deep in the very core of your being; the order will be on the surface, at the center there will be disorder. This is not going to help. The real order arises not from the outside, but from the innermost core of your being. Allow disorder, don’t repress it. Face it, take the challenge of disorder—and by taking the challenge of disorder and living it, living dangerously, an order arises in your being. That order is out of chaos, not out of any pattern. To some extent the quote from Osho shows just how difficult it is for the suggestions provided by Watts to actually succeed—that is, for creationists to understand evolution and change their identities and aspects of their lifestyles. In Neanderthals, Watts examines two discourse communities that are referred to as fundamentalism and science. These discourses are incommensurable in a context of teaching and learning evolution—which is a foundational construct in studies of the life sciences. Watts zeros in on a number of salient issues pertaining to problems that are often encountered when science students have a background in living as, and learning about, religion in a fundamentalist way that emphasizes literal understandings of the Bible. Importantly, Watts addresses ways in which emotions such as anger and fear can create barriers to learning science associated with evolution. For such students, the tenets of science clash with religious principles from the Bible, reinforced by parents, siblings, peers from school, and learning from active participation in church activities. Accordingly, much of Watts’ framing of problems and approaches to teaching and learning, involves learning, the role of emotion, and associated physiological responses to negative emotions such as anger and fear. More is needed than being aware that religious fundamentalists will be antagonistic to learning about evolution and participating in curricular activities that include evolution. Watts advocates proactive approaches to teaching and learning that highlight heightening awareness to salient characteristics of teaching and learning evolution when creationism is an issue; ameliorating negative emotions using breathing
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