longbrained
SENIOR MEMBER
Think that Iran is a theocracy that allows no science contrary to
Islamic doctrine? Think again:
Iranian science textbooks do, in fact, include evolution, and reveals
several problems with the existing discourses on both Islamic
creationism and the effect of religious governance on science education.
Prevailing assumptions about the Iranian government evidently lead to
the expectation that science education in Iran, rather than representing
the consensus of the international scientific community, is merely
another avenue for Islamic indoctrination. However, the state-produced
science textbooks, which define the national curriculum and whose use is
mandatory in all Iranian schools, are nearly devoid of any religious
ideology. While the first page is emblazoned with bismillah ("In the
name of God"), the generic Arabic phrase prefacing texts and speeches in
most Muslim countries, Iranian fifth-graders do not read the Qur'anic
account of creation in their general sciences text. Instead they learn
about deep time, the marine beginnings of life on Earth, Pangaea, and
continental drift. Furthermore, geologists are credited as the source of
this knowledge, as opposed to divine inspiration (Tehrani et al. 2008).
In eighth grade, the final year of compulsory schooling in Iran,
students learn about evolution in earnest. Within a historical
perspective, the middle-school science textbook presents not only
Darwin's observations of natural selection, but also the discrediting of
the Lamarckian hypothesis by August Weissmann, as well as de Vries'
ideas on genetic mutation. Furthermore, multiple lines of evidence for
evolution are illustrated, including comparative embryology and
structural homologies. Most strikingly, the text highlights transitional
forms; the image of an Archaeopteryx fossil is captioned: "This is the
first bird on Earth, which also has some reptile traits" (Amani et al.
2008).
For secondary students who go on to the highest levels of biology in
preparation for university, the pish-daneshgahi (12th-grade equivalent)
biology textbook elaborates on these previous discussions within several
chapters on evolution and population genetics (Karam al-Dini et al.
2008). Alongside the science of and evidence for evolution, the text
paints a sympathetic picture of Darwin, mentioning his reluctance to
publish his ideas within the Victorian English social milieu, especially
given the church's censure of Vestiges of the Natural History of
Creation and Lamarck. Perhaps more importantly, the text includes a
diagram presenting Darwin's influences and the eventual construction of
the new synthesis of evolutionary theory, with abundant reference to
Western scientists and their research programs. Equally remarkable is
the text's analysis of punctuated equilibrium, which it points out as
Darwin's original conception of "gradual" evolution, and its
presentation of ongoing evolutionary research, including that of Peter
and Rosemary Grant and Jonathan Losos.
A wonderful more detailed read on the same subject about science education in Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel: EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM IN MIDDLE EASTERN EDUCATION: A NEW PERSPECTIVE on Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel
Islamic doctrine? Think again:
Iranian science textbooks do, in fact, include evolution, and reveals
several problems with the existing discourses on both Islamic
creationism and the effect of religious governance on science education.
Prevailing assumptions about the Iranian government evidently lead to
the expectation that science education in Iran, rather than representing
the consensus of the international scientific community, is merely
another avenue for Islamic indoctrination. However, the state-produced
science textbooks, which define the national curriculum and whose use is
mandatory in all Iranian schools, are nearly devoid of any religious
ideology. While the first page is emblazoned with bismillah ("In the
name of God"), the generic Arabic phrase prefacing texts and speeches in
most Muslim countries, Iranian fifth-graders do not read the Qur'anic
account of creation in their general sciences text. Instead they learn
about deep time, the marine beginnings of life on Earth, Pangaea, and
continental drift. Furthermore, geologists are credited as the source of
this knowledge, as opposed to divine inspiration (Tehrani et al. 2008).
In eighth grade, the final year of compulsory schooling in Iran,
students learn about evolution in earnest. Within a historical
perspective, the middle-school science textbook presents not only
Darwin's observations of natural selection, but also the discrediting of
the Lamarckian hypothesis by August Weissmann, as well as de Vries'
ideas on genetic mutation. Furthermore, multiple lines of evidence for
evolution are illustrated, including comparative embryology and
structural homologies. Most strikingly, the text highlights transitional
forms; the image of an Archaeopteryx fossil is captioned: "This is the
first bird on Earth, which also has some reptile traits" (Amani et al.
2008).
For secondary students who go on to the highest levels of biology in
preparation for university, the pish-daneshgahi (12th-grade equivalent)
biology textbook elaborates on these previous discussions within several
chapters on evolution and population genetics (Karam al-Dini et al.
2008). Alongside the science of and evidence for evolution, the text
paints a sympathetic picture of Darwin, mentioning his reluctance to
publish his ideas within the Victorian English social milieu, especially
given the church's censure of Vestiges of the Natural History of
Creation and Lamarck. Perhaps more importantly, the text includes a
diagram presenting Darwin's influences and the eventual construction of
the new synthesis of evolutionary theory, with abundant reference to
Western scientists and their research programs. Equally remarkable is
the text's analysis of punctuated equilibrium, which it points out as
Darwin's original conception of "gradual" evolution, and its
presentation of ongoing evolutionary research, including that of Peter
and Rosemary Grant and Jonathan Losos.
A wonderful more detailed read on the same subject about science education in Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel: EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM IN MIDDLE EASTERN EDUCATION: A NEW PERSPECTIVE on Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel