ragordon168
Active Member
daisy get involved with it! 
give your thoughts/ opinions and discuss them. you might get more out of the debate
give your thoughts/ opinions and discuss them. you might get more out of the debate
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Creationism in the Classroom - Research Project
- Thread starter DaisyRach
- Start date
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
Bearing in mind that you're talking about what I would call elementary school students, one interesting, factual and valid approach would be to do a unit on creation myths, escribing various creation myths from around the world, including the Genesis myth. I don't think the Christian parents would let you get away with it, though.
MSizer
MSizer
You're not kidding. I can hear it now. "They can't even get their facts strate - first they say we come from monkees, then they say we come from some prime ordeal soup, when soup wasn't even invented back then. And now they want to call our perfectly logical creation story a "myth"!"
ragordon168
Active Member
i don't know whether to laugh or cry at that.
DaisyRach
New Member
Perhaps cry with laughter!
There's just so much I have read, and have had conversations with people who so strongly believe it and are then so strongly against it!
Personally, I agree with you and think it's a silly thing to teach children as FACT... and especially in science. BUT that's all people seem to focus on - surely does it not have a place in RE??
Oh and subliminaly I guess we kinda teach children from a young age with the song all things bright and beautiful 'the lord God made them all' seen as I remember singing that at Primary School!
ragordon168
Active Member
teaching RE could be a part of a broader subject. instead of focusing solely on religions perhaps discuss broader social diversity (i.e culture, etc)
Terrywoodenpic
Oldest Heretic
It was originally a Jewish creation Myth. and it is in the Bible.
It was given as little attention as the other obvious myths were, before the "Creationists" came along.
It just needs to settle back in the back waters again, It should not try to compete with science, or it will continue to be ridiculed.
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Wannabe Yogi
Well-Known Member
I have no problem with teaching differnt creation myths in the older primary grades, as long as it is just when the children studing the world religions. It must stay out of the science text books. Only science can be in science text books. Philosophy in social science text books.
ragordon168
Active Member
problem with fundamentalism, they dont quit. we just have to keep teaching the truth to kids so that nobody believes creationism and it falls back to creation myth
freethinker44
Well-Known Member
I have no problem with teaching creationism in school. I took classes specifically about creationism when I was in high school. However, they were ancient mythology classes, which I believe is the only acceptable medium to teach creationism. Religious books could possibly be looked at in a literature course, but I don't quite trust the teachers enough to present an objective, unbiased cirriculum so I would rather just not see creationism or religion taught in any context other than mythology. And whatever happens, it should never taught as science or considered to be an "alternative" view in a science classroom.
AlsoAnima
Friend
Creationism has a place is the classroom. Religious Studies.
I'm not sure Intelligent Design has a place. It's status as an alternative to Evolution Theory would seem to make it biology, but highschool biology isn't all that concerned with where life came from...
I'll leave it to professional educators to decide.
nonbeliever_92
Well-Known Member
Religious texts should not be trusted as anything other than literary fiction in schools.
Wannabe Yogi
Well-Known Member
Like you said as long as it's not in a science text book. If they can fit it in to philosopy or religious study's I am just fine with it.
ragordon168
Active Member
agreed i'm planning to become a high school science teacher and i would NEVER teach anything that has no scientific basis (unless simplifying some complicated theory for younger students)
i had looked at going to teach in the US but was worried about being handicapped by rules against certain subjects like ToE and sex ed.
DaisyRach
New Member
I don't believe the creation story of any religion was written as a literal account more of a story for interpretation. I wouldn't teach it in science as I have said, but so think the stories have some place in RE to teach children about other people's beliefs. It is essentially some people's opinions/beliefs and with such should be treated with respect as long as they aren't being forced upon others.
Amill
Apikoros
There's no point in teaching it in a science class because there's nothing to say about it. I mean, what evidence for creation is there? Most "evidence" that people produce is just evidence that tries to challenge evolution, not actual evidence for creation. But how can you actually teach creation other than just saying that a creator made everything? We have no explanations or evidence for the process, so there's nothing to talk about.
So definitely no room for it in a science class and any parent can teach it in about 5 minutes. I do agree that there should be world religions classes more available, where students and teachers can discuss the creation stories there.
So definitely no room for it in a science class and any parent can teach it in about 5 minutes. I do agree that there should be world religions classes more available, where students and teachers can discuss the creation stories there.
ThereIsNoSpoon
Active Member
I would disagree.
Think about it from a different perspective.
You NOW do not believe it to be so, but if you had lived 2000 years ago the story wouldnt be so strange as to make you believe in its purely interpretative character
There is a reason why we still have young earth creationists and 2000 years ago we only had those.
imaginaryme
Active Member
Cannot say it belongs in primary education because, as mentioned herein, the young are too susceptible to learning stuff they are just going to have to spend the rest of their lives unlearning, if you know what I mean. Teaching creationism at an early age gives it a validity it truly does not deserve. I personally believe that high school education should include a class on "religious awareness," when such topics could be safely debated.
Terrywoodenpic
Oldest Heretic
I would disagree.
Think about it from a different perspective.
You NOW do not believe it to be so, but if you had lived 2000 years ago the story wouldnt be so strange as to make you believe in its purely interpretative character
There is a reason why we still have young earth creationists and 2000 years ago we only had those.
There is indeed a reason, young earth creationists have never used the benefit of the God given march of science to modify their understanding of early myths.
If people in those early time had known about the evidence, since uncovered by science, their attempts at writing about creation might have been closer to reality.
They were not stupid they used the best evidence they had in a reasoned way.
Where Modern Young earth believers differ, is they neither accept reason nor evidence. I would suggest this is displaying a lower level of understanding and intelligence than their ancient forebares.