Student Opposition to Learning Evolution and How Teachers Deal with This following a Teacher Training Course

ABSTRACT Evolution is a difficult topic to teach; teachers admit not having enough knowledge of evolution and they face student opposition to learning evolution, especially based on religious grounds. Teachers are therefore motivated to gain knowledge in the field of evolution. We conducted a 30-hour evolution teacher training course, which included scientific and pedagogical evolution knowledge, with 14 inservice teachers who represent the main religious/cultural sectors in the country. The aim of this research was to enrich our knowledge regarding students’ opposition to learning evolution as reflected by their teachers—participants in the teacher training course, as well as the ways in which these teachers dealt with this opposition before and after the course. Our main findings were that 9 of the participating teachers underwent a transition during the course which gave them either the pedagogical tools or confidence to teach evolution, or to deal with their students’ opposition to learning evolution stemming from religious beliefs. Four of the teachers expressed unwillingness to deal with this opposition. A more intensive course dealing with science and religion might have been even more significant for the teachers. Teacher training courses are a good opportunity for further science education research, they can help teachers overcome their students’ conflicts with evolution and enable them to teach it without trepidation.