Teaching Evolution In Faith Schools

[naomi24]

Under the new science curriculum evolution will be taught in primary schools.

How will faith schools that currently teach creationism deal with this?

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/08/michael-goves-new-school-curriculum_n_3560653.html

[jomifl]

They will probably break one or more of the ten commandments and /or 70 sins of Islam. So, no change there.

[mushroom25]

national curriculum not necessarily applicable to schools outside local authority control and therefore out of scope of the education reform act 1988.

so they can teach that the world was created by the great green arkleseizure if they so wish.

[Octavius]

Not all schools have to follow the national curriculum (e.g. Academies).

[jim360]

They should close.

[Old_Geezer]

Surely it is simple. They teach evolution in Biology, Science lessons, and creationism in the Myth & Legends, History lessons ?

[naomi24]

mushroom25, but surely publicly funded schools – which many faith schools are – have to follow the national curriculum?

[FredPuli43]

Apparently not OG, if these schools are not obliged to follow a national curriculum which contains teaching of evolution.

[emmie]

they may opt out,

[Gromit]

Michael Gove should scrap Free Schools and make them all work to the national curriculum.

Faith Schools should not be funded by the tax payer.

[Octavius]

Free Schools were by and large Michael Goves little puppy and driven through by the coalition government (Academies Act 2010). He's not likely to back track now is he.

[Old_Geezer]

I'd agree there Gromit. Ridiculous they who pay the piper do not call the tune.

Assuming society thinks a private education alternative is a good idea, then it should be funded privately. Even then one would have thought a minimum set of areas/levels should be law for the sake of those in the private system.

[woofgang]

I went to a faith school (they were called "Direct Grant" then) and it taught evolution and not creationism. This was about 45 years ago give or take. The school actually still exists. Not all faith schools are fundamentalist faith schools. The Bible wasn't viewed as being directly inspired by god but as a collection of writings...some of which were about Jesus and were dated from the time when Jesus lived, some of which were myths, legends, poems and songs, some of which was the history of the Jewish Nation.

[Octavius]

woofgang, my experience from the 70s/80s in a Roman Catholic School was the teaching of evolution and not creationism.

[naomi24]

The question relates solely to schools that currently teach creationism.

[Octavius]

The DfE has always insisted that creationism should not be taught as fact at any school in the UK, however it is never able to fully implement this due to the rules they have created and the ability for schools to opt out/circumvent or generally debase etc, it so I doubt anything will change - exactly really as answer 1 from jomifl.

[bednobs]

are there any? Perhaps they say "here- this is evolution which is an alternative view of how the world was created" rather like my school said "here, this is creationism, which is an alternative view about how the world was created"

[naomi24]

Bednobs, if you mean are there currently any schools that teach evolution, yes, there are.

[chakka35]

Evolution does not explain how the world was created. It explains how modern complex life evolved from extremely primitive life starting about 1500 million years after the earth was formed. How the universe came about is an entirely different branch of science.

[modeller]

The problem there chakka Creationism is on the basis it all started 5000
years ago and evolution started from that point. The world as we now know it like Mount Everest and the Grand Canyon were 'created ' by God and put there. Any fosssils found we now find there , even those a mile inside a mountain were deposited there at the time of N

[Octavius]

I think thats rather chakkas point, evolution was a product of intelligent design....