What Came First: Knowledge or Belief?

I feel as though I need to address something that came to my attention this week concerning science and teaching. I follow the “Science is Awesome” page on Facebook, because I am a firm believer that science is definitely awesome. This week, one of the things that was posted concerned a 4th grade science quiz in a private school in South Carolina where students were being taught the biblical perspective on dinosaurs based on a curriculum by Young Earth Creationism. It was grounded very much in religion rather than scientific fact, and even provided dialogue to use in debates concerning science verse religion on the perspective of creation. Like many other science educators, I was really distraught—if not angry—by the content of the quiz. Not only was it rife with scientific inaccuracies, but it also did not support other theories nor debate concerning this rather delicate topic.

I had to really sit down and muddle through why this angered me, and I think it comes back to that whole professional educator role and the types of difficulties we will face as teachers who are striving for professionalism. To me, this quiz did not represent professionalism. The teacher did not provide points of view on the various beliefs on the world’s creation, but provided a sole perspective that will definitely impact the student’s education later in life.

This event reinforces the idea that teachers are the end-all, be-all gatekeepers to knowledge and truth, and that what we teach our students is often viewed as infallible. Parents who are commenting on this event are outraged that a teacher could abuse her position in the classroom, no matter the particular philosophy based around the curriculum. Had this teacher provided multiple perspectives, they would have at least provided a lens for debate, even in a 4th grade classroom.

Now, I know what most would say in response to this—they are called private schools for a reason, but I still find myself aghast to know that this particular student would walk out into the world and face the fact that she only knew one particular view on the creation of the Earth and the role of dinosaurs in our timeline.

I really want to think about that idea: the idea of knowing. I know a lot of things, and not all of them I believe in. Belief and knowledge, in my approximation, are two different things—linked perhaps, but different all the same. I know that scientists theorize that the Earth is 4.54 billion years old; I also know that there are religions that have placed the Earth’s age on an entirely different timeline. I believe what the scientist theorize, but I respect what religion says about creation and intelligent design. Students should be given an opportunity to make that distinction themselves—what they know and what they believe. As a hopeful science teacher, I know that there will be times I am challenging a student’s belief with the knowledge I am presenting them.

In truth, this week’s event has left me more grounded in what I want out of this program and what I want as a teacher. I want to be a professional educator. I want the rest of my cohort to be professional educators. I want to see teaching become a professional career path—but, are we being confronted with challenges, some of which are as old as education itself.

I wouldn’t dare insult or demean the teachers who participate in the South Carolina curriculum, because even I have sat in a classroom of a religious private school. They are certainly doing what they feel is best, and they are certainly being encouraged by administrators and parents to teach these topics from a particular perspective. But, I would challenge them to consider the impact they are having on the children they teach. They are unthinkingly limiting their knowledge and weakening strength in their own belief—after all, I recognize that the more you know about others and their beliefs, the stronger you are in your own.