On the teaching of evolution across the world

by Salman Hameed

Scientific American has an excellent article on how evolution is taught across the world: Evolution Abroad - Creationism Evolves in Science Classrooms around the Globe. Okay - so it doesn't cover the entire world, but it does talk about Europe, UK and the Muslim world. This is a timely topic, as we are just dealing with the controversy surrounding Usama Hasan - London Imam who is facing a strong reaction from his mosque after he defended the compatibility of evolution and Islam. In fact, he seem to have retracted some of his statements. Also see earlier posts here: Muslim Inquisition Today: The plight of Usama Hasan and Nuance needed regarding the issue of evolution and London Imam - Usama Hasan.

It may come as a surprise to many that evolution is included in the biology textbooks of most Muslim countries. Yes, teachers often present a creationist account as well - but that is not always the case. But the textbook styles vary from country to country. I know that Turkey has some trace elements of creationism in the textbooks, Iran has straight-up evolution, and Pakistan has evolution alongside Quranic verses that seem to support the fundamental idea of the change of species. I'm most familiar with the Pakistani case - and I know that they do a decent job presenting the basic evidence for biological evolution and natural selection. However, there is no mention of human evolution and the chapters following evolution are either go in the direction of ecology or biotechnology - but at no place it says that human evolution did not take place. There are couple of recent papers on this topic and I will highlight them in the coming weeks.

In the mean time here is the section of Scientific American article that talks about the teaching of evolution in the Muslim world. I don't have to add any comments as I'm already quoted in this part of the article. But please do read the full article:

Like any major faith, Islamic beliefs are incredibly varied across sects, regions and among individuals, and there is no single leader or doctrine to pronounce the official view on evolution. "The diversity that you find in Muslim thought around evolution is just as broad as you would expect to find in the West," says Jason Wiles, an assistant professor of biology at Syracuse University in New York State who has been studying attitudes and knowledge of Muslim students and teachers.

In many Muslim-majority countries Islam goes beyond providing a cultural force, shaping many of the foundational aspects of governance and societal decision-making. "We have to appreciate the central role that religion plays in Muslim societies," says Salman Hameed, an assistant professor of Integrated Science and Humanities at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, who has been researching the acceptance of evolution among Muslims.

In 2006 the InterAcademy Panel (IAP) in Trieste, Italy, which represents national science organizations across the globe, issued a statement on the teaching of evolution. The statement, which several Muslim-majority countries, including Egypt, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, signed, urged "decision-makers, teachers, and parents to educate all children about the methods and discoveries of science," asserting that there are "evidence-based facts about the origins and evolution of the Earth and of life on this planet."

But, as Hameed points out, the IAP statement "doesn't necessarily translate into anything because it's not a policy statement."

Nevertheless, evolution is included in the textbooks of most high school students in the Islamic world (with the notable exception of Saudi Arabia, where the national curriculum includes explicit statements rejecting evolution in favor of a creationist worldview). In classrooms and class materials it is often presented within a religious framework. In Pakistan—where the stated national curriculum goal for high school biology classes is "to enable the students to appreciate that Allah is Creator and Sustainer of the universe," according to a 2007 study—a textbook chapter on evolution from the Punjab district opens with a verse from the Koran. But, Wiles points out, the religious text is then "summarized and interpreted to support the idea of evolution" before moving into a more scientific presentation of the theory.

Wiles suggests that providing this religious touchstone might be productive in the cultural context, "giving students permission to learn about evolution and still be good Muslims." But that does not mean that a more clear separation of scientific reasoning and religious beliefs should not be attempted, he notes. "Just communicating in terms of the demarcation between science and nonscience is something that we need to come to an understanding about."

Compared with many fundamentalist Christians, Muslims with strong religious beliefs might be more likely to embrace at least organismal evolution because the Koran lacks a rigid time frame for the creation story. Christian "young Earth" creationists rule out evolution as a matter of course because, as Hameed points out, "if you start with the premise that the Earth is 6,000 or 10,000 years old, it would be logical to reject evolution." But for Muslims, "those kinds of problems don't exist," he says.

Thus, students often receive instruction about—and are more willing to accept—plant and animal evolution. But problems arise when humans are discussed. As humans are presumed to be uniquely moral beings, a direct connection to the animal world can be problematic. And preliminary research by Hameed and his colleagues has shown that even among Pakistani-educated physicians living in the U.S., microbial evolution is more broadly accepted than human evolution.

But evolutionary theory can be—and in some places already has been—turned into a cultural marker. Even couching the subject in terms of Darwinism can be detrimental, especially in places such as Pakistan, where Darwin is associated with former colonizers. Evolution is also sometimes tied to atheism, which is particularly anathema to devout Muslims, Wiles says. Hameed suggests that one reason Islamic immigrants in the E.U., for example, have such high rates of creationist beliefs is because evolution has been associated with a more general Western identity from which many are seeking to distinguish themselves. And although ID is often disparaged by creationists in the Muslim world as not giving enough credit to the creator, some of the movement's materials are used to argue against the teaching—and validity–of evolution.

Many Muslim-majority countries adapt textbook materials from the U.K. or E.U. This move strips away the cultural relevance of examples, Hameed says. He suggests that rather than highlighting the infamous example of the British peppered moths, more local examples such as fossils from particular countries, be used instead.

Another way to advocate for including evolution in public education, Hameed says, is to highlight practical applications of having a well-trained citizenry that can compete globally for jobs in medicine, biotechnology and bioinformation.

The spread of mass education in many Muslim-majority countries starting in the 1980s and 1990s, along with the rise in exposure to outside sources of information through television and the Internet have made evolutionary biology and theory harder to ignore. Whether it is adopted as part of a purely scientific subject or co-opted as a politico-cultural instrument remains to be seen.

"Thought regarding evolution is developing right now," Hameed says. "It's unclear as to which way it's going to go."

Read the full article here.