Transcript Evolutionary theory

Religious Fundamentalism
and Education in Europe
Helen Everett
Institute of Education
London
Creationism is the belief that the world was created by God in six
days as described in the Bible in Genesis Chapter 1. This has
spawned the theory of Intelligent Design as an attempt to make the
idea more scientific.
Evolutionary theory is underpinned by the writings and ideas of
Charles Darwin and relate to his ideas on the origin of species and
natural selection (1859) but the theory contains later additions.
Islamic
Evangelical
Christian
State School
Faith
Islam
Christianity
Secular
Humanism[1]
Nature of Child
Essentially good
Essentially sinful
Essentially good
Goal of Education
To become good
Muslim, preparation
for life to come
God’s Glory
Acquisition of skills,
self realisation[2]
Knowledge
Comes from God
Comes from God
Based on scientific
reasoning
Scripture
Qur’an revealed by
God, inerrant
Bible revealed by
God, inerrant
Open to
interpretation
Teacher
Exemplar-Prophet
Mohamed role
model
Creationism
Discipler – Jesus
role model
Facilitator
Creationism
Evolution
RE
Islamicindoctrinating
Christianindoctrinating
Educational
Responsibility
Community and
Parent
Parent
Non
denominational,
comparative
State
Underlying values
No separation
between secular
and sacred
No separation
between secular
and sacred
Evolution/Creationis
m
Secular and sacred
separate
Times Educational Supplement 21/7/06
‘he [David Blunkett] said the Government at the time [1988] was “faced
particularly in places like West Yorkshire, with youngsters going 15-20 miles
to quite unacceptable education which was anything but open and liberal”’
And also
‘”that he [David Blunkett] did not feel comfortable” with his original 1988
decision to award funding to new Muslim faith schools, and admitted that the
policy was driven entirely by “pragmatism”’
Education Guardian 18/01/05 reporting David Bell
"Faith should not be blind. I worry that many young people are being
educated in faith-based schools, with little appreciation of their wider
responsibilities and obligations to British society."
Many Muslim schools "must adapt their curriculum to ensure that [they
provide] pupils with a broad general knowledge of public institutions and
services in England and help them to acquire an appreciation of and
respect for other cultures in a way that promotes tolerance and
harmony".
"traditional Islamic education does not entirely fit pupils for their lives as
Muslims in modern Britain".
Can a state education system accommodate world
views which are irreconcilable with the one
underpinning the education system?
What are the consequences if it does? And what are the
consequences if it does not?