Four reasons why teachers should not teach creationism
Evolution is the animating principle of modern biology, uniting all biological fields. It’s a theory in the sense that everything in science is considered a theory but biologists have no doubt of its essential truth. Creationist theory is not a scientific alternative view to evolution — though you wouldn’t know it given all the efforts in state legislatures to pass bills insisting teachers teach it alongside evolution. From 2004 to spring 2011, at least 40 such bills were filed in 13 states but only in Louisiana was one signed into law. Efforts continued, however, with eight bills so far being introduced in state legislatures this year, according to the National Center for Science Education. Here cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham explains why teachers should not teach creationism. Willingham is a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” His latest book is “When Can You Trust The Experts? How to tell good science from bad in education.” A version of this appeared on his Science and Education blog.By Daniel Willingham
A new bill just passed the Education committee in the Oklahoma House of representatives, as reported on in the Oklahoman. Titled “The Scientific Education and Academic Freedom