Blue Notes from a Red Zone

The Evolution of Education

As the theory of evolution makes its way through the news cycle once again, it would seem that everyone with a stake in the educational wars has weighed in with opinions, “facts” of varying degrees of credibility, and lines drawn in the sand. However, there is one player, presumably the one with the largest stake in the outcome, who is strangely silent: that of the educational establishment. We do hear from individual teachers and science organizations. We do NOT hear from educational superintendents, teacher unions, colleges of education, or other institutional representatives of academia. These are the very institutions that could stop the dilution of scientific understanding in a moment’s time.

Perhaps one reason could be that the educational industry is embarrassed. After all, the fact that 50-75% of Americans (depending on the wording of the question) think that creationism or its alter-ego, intelligent design, is valid science is a stinging indictment of the inadequacy of our schools. It is obvious that an enormous segment of our society cannot distinguish between an opinion offered at a cocktail party and a scientific theory. This shows up not just in evolution debates, but in the consistently miserable performance of American students on international science tests (and math tests, and history tests, and geography tests, and literacy tests).

Sadly, I don’t think embarrassment is the obstacle. From what I can see at the state and local level, our educational institutions are pretty complacent. Perhaps there are problems elsewhere, but our schools are doing just fine. There is no need for change, for additional resources, longer academic years, more dynamic teachers, updated textbooks, and certainly new educational content. In the profound words of Paul Simon, we can “slip-slide away,” and be perfectly happy about it.

School boards and superintendents are rarely voted in because of their ability to embrace controversy. This is not a profession in which all publicity, negative and positive, is considered a good thing. This is a profession that plays it safe, in ways that are not always obvious on the surface.

Let’s go back to evolution. Our school board is not about to launch a publicity-generating attack on evolutionary study. Instead, they simply hire science teachers with little grasp of science. They do not teach any branch of science with certitude; certainly they do not seek to challenge prevailing religious beliefs. They use science textbooks with chapters on the “big bang” theory and evolution, but they soft-peddle the evidence, and in some cases, contradict it. One teacher of International Baccalaureate level science students informed the class that there had never been a “moon walk,” it was all a Hollywood stage set. If students emerge unimpressed with the science of creation and evolution, it is ascribed to faults in the science itself, not in the lack-luster and noncommittal teaching thereof.

If the United States is to maintain (or regain) its global competitive edge, we need to get serious about education. We need to invest in teachers, from teacher education to teacher reimbursement. Colleges of education must move beyond the “medium is the message,” and start seriously empowering their students to teach the content of their courses. Courses should emphasize logical thinking, not rote recitation of pronouncements. Schools need to embrace the year-round academic calendar, and start recognizing that their mission is not placating the public, but creating a future in which the public will thrive.

We live in an ever-changing world. It’s not too much to ask that education leave behind the debates they know to be false, and join us in seeking and utilizing new frontiers in knowledge.

posted by Lenore Wilson @ 5:20 PM