Abstract
M.Ed. (Science Education)
Evolution was introduced as a new section of Life Sciences in the National Curriculum
Statement in 2008, anecdotal evidence indicating that this incorporation was not welcomed by all teachers, learners, parents and schools with the same enthusiasm. For example, many Christian teachers and learners seem to have religious objections, but while there is ample research available in the United States of America and Great Britain on their views of evolution, that on the South African Life Sciences classroom is limited. Therefore, this study strives to determine the lived experiences of these teachers and learners and how they relate to the topic. The objectives were to investigate how Christian teachers of Life Sciences experience the teaching of evolution in the classroom; the knowledge and skills they have in order to teach natural selection and evolutionary biology, as prescribed by the National Curriculum Statement; and the barriers they face in the teaching of evolution and natural selection. Meanwhile, Grade 12 learners completed a questionnaire before and after receiving tuition on evolution in order to determine their lived experiences. This study is part of a trilogy within a Research Niche Area of the University of Johannesburg, with the other two researchers focusing on Islam perspectives (Yalvac, 2011) and the Hindu perspective (Reddy,
2012). This is an explanatory sequential mixed method study with an element of
phenomenology. Quantitative data was collected which informed the qualitative research, the latter being used to examine the lived experiences of Life Sciences teachers, the former to determine learners’ attitudes toward evolution as well as gauging the teachers’ general understanding of the theory of evolution. Third generation Cultural Historical Activity theory (CHAT) was used as the theoretical framework through which the lived experiences of Christian teachers and learners were analysed. This is appropriate for this study as it views the teachers and learners holistically, by taking their culture and history into account, and it provides a vehicle for looking at what Pintrich, Marx and Boyle (1993) call, the “hot” factors associated with controversial conceptual change. The findings of my study show that many Christian teachers and learners experience conflict between their religion and evolution and many tensions arise in the activity system when using CHAT as a lens. These tensions mainly
arise due to a lack of the teachers’ PCK and the conflict arising because of religious
objections. The findings furthermore show that learners have a relative naïve understanding of evolution before tuition and have many misconceptions regarding it. A clear polarisation can be seen after tuition as learners move from a neutral stance with regards to evolution to either a more creationistic or scientific point of view. In the final chapter I make recommendations on how the teaching and learning of evolution can be improved in the South African classroom.