[Catalist] Thank God for Physics Teachers!

[Michael McGarry]

Greetings Science Colleagues,

I would like colleagues to read and analyse excerpts from two position statements on the teaching of biological evolution. The first excerpt is online published by the American Association of Physics Teachers [AAPT]. The second excerpt is online published by the Australian Academy of Science [AAS].

EXCERPT 1: “We believe in teaching that science is a process that examines all of the evidence relevant to an issue and tests alternative hypotheses. For this reason, we do not endorse teaching the “evidence against evolution,” because currently no such scientific evidence exists. Nor can we condone teaching “scientific creationism,” “intelligent design,” or other non-scientific viewpoints as valid scientific theories. These beliefs ignore the important connections among empirical data and fail to provide testable hypotheses. They should not be a part of the science curriculum.”

AAPT URL: https://www.aapt.org/Resources/policy/evolutandcosmo.cfm <https://www.aapt.org/Resources/policy/evolutandcosmo.cfm>
EXCERPT 2: “The [Australian] Academy [of Science] sees no objection to the teaching of creationism in schools as part of a course in dogmatic or comparative religion, or in some other non-scientific context. There are no grounds, however, for requiring that creationism and intelligent design be taught as part of a science course.”

AAS URL: https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/science-policy/position-statements/creationism-and-intelligent-design <https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/science-policy/position-statements/creationism-and-intelligent-design>
AAPT does not condone the teaching of Creationist pseudoscience in schools.

AAS condones the teaching of Creationist pseudoscience in Australian schools.

I contacted AAS asking that AAS delete the ‘offending sentence’. AAS refused.

NSTA Declarations on “The Teaching of Evolution.” [Three only selected.]

“Science teachers should not advocate any religious interpretations of the natural world and should be nonjudgmental about the personal beliefs of students.”

“Policy makers and administrators should not mandate policies requiring the teaching of “creation science” or related concepts, such as so-called “intelligent design,” “abrupt appearance,” and “arguments against evolution.””

“However, the professional responsibility of science teachers and curriculum specialists to provide students with quality science education should not be compromised by censorship, pseudoscience, inconsistencies, faulty scholarship, political influences, or unconstitutional mandates.”

NSTA URL: http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/evolution.aspx <http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/evolution.aspx>
Evolution Abroad: Creationism Evolves in Science Classrooms around the Globe

SA URL: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evolution-education-abroad/ <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evolution-education-abroad/>
Turkey bans teaching of evolution – but science is more than a belief system

Conversation URL: https://theconversation.com/turkey-bans-teaching-of-evolution-but-science-is-more-than-a-belief-system-80123 <https://theconversation.com/turkey-bans-teaching-of-evolution-but-science-is-more-than-a-belief-system-80123>
Why I teach evolution to Muslim students

NATURE URL: http://www.nature.com/news/why-i-teach-evolution-to-muslim-students-1.17364 <http://www.nature.com/news/why-i-teach-evolution-to-muslim-students-1.17364>
Best Wishes,

Michael John McGarry 

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