Developing a cross-curricular session about evolution for initial teacher education: findings from a small-scale study with pre-service primary school teacher

The study reported here is part of a larger project, which began when it was announced that the science curriculum for primary schools in England would include the teaching of evolution. Evolution is widely seen by teachers and pre-service teachers as an area of science that is challenging to teach; one of the reasons often given is a concern that the science may conflict with some children’s religious beliefs.

Teacher education courses were provided for pre-service primary school teachers to address the teaching of science and also RE (Religious Education).

The motivation for the current study was to discover how, if at all, pre-service primary teachers changed their planned approaches to teaching evolution as a result of a cross-curricular seminar session that explored issues and questions that are frequently raised by school students and teachers as areas of concern. In particular, we looked for changes in pre-service teachers’ attitudes to teaching about evolution, their planned approach to teaching evolution, subject knowledge of science and perception of the relationship of religion and the nature of science before and after participating in the workshop. The data indicated that the experience of taking part in a cross-curricular session informed participants’ own understanding of evolution and of how science and religion relate, and prompted this cohort to consider using this strategy as part of their own teaching.