THE ORIGINS OF HUMANKIND: A SURVEY OF SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS AND TEACHERS' CONCEPTIONS IN 14 COUNTRIES

Abstract

To investigate the difficulty teaching human origins, and particularly the possible link between values and taught scientific knowledge, research was carried out in 14 countries, in the context of the project BIOHEAD-Citizen. In eight countries (Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Senegal), this topic is included in the biology syllabus; in the six other countries (Algeria, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal and Tunisia), it is not. Analysis of the images of timelines or trees depicting evolution revealed that Homo sapiens is never represented by a woman alone, only twice by a couple, and never with ethnic diversity. Homo sapiens is generally at the top or end of the evolutionary schemas, indicating a goal-ended conception of evolution. Thus scientific knowledge related to human origins can be mixed with implicit values. In the 14 countries, 5,706 teachers (primary and secondary school teachers of biology or national language) completed a questionnaire. Conceptions differed greatly among countries. Creationist conceptions were correlated with level of belief in God, as well as with shorter training at university. In the countries where evolution is included in the students' curriculum, the biology teachers' conceptions were less radically creationist than when it was not included in the curriculum.

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