Case studies in teaching evolution in the southwestern U.S.: The intersection of dilemmas in practice

Abstract

Over the last century, anti-evolution sentiment has been reflected in major legislative initiatives across the United States, including Arizona. Despite recent science education reform documents citing evolution as a core concept to be taught in grades K-12 in the U.S., research shows problems with how it is currently taught. Evolution is often avoided, teachers minimize its importance within biology, infuse misconceptions, and/or interject non-scientific ideologies into lessons. The current study focused on how teachers in two geographically and culturally distinct school districts in Arizona negotiated dilemmas during an evolution unit. One district was rural with a large population of Mormon students, while the other was urban, with a majority of Mexican/Mexican-American students. Using a case study approach, I observed three biology teachers during their evolution lessons, interviewed them throughout the unit, co-planned lessons with them, and collected artifacts, including anonymous student work. I also included data from genetics lessons for each teacher to determine if the issues that arose during the evolution unit were a result of that teacher's practices, or if they were unique to evolution. Findings showed teachers' backgrounds and comfort levels with evolution, in addition to their perceptions of community context, affected how they negotiated pedagogical, conceptual, political, and cultural dilemmas. This study's findings inform in-service teachers' future practice and professional development tools to aid their teaching; this includes methods to negotiate some of the political (e.g. state standards) or cultural (e.g. religious resistance) issues inherent to teaching evolution.