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Hasan Deniz •Lisa A. Borgerding
Editors
Evolution Education Around
the Globe
123
agomez@cinvestav.mx
Editors
Hasan Deniz
College of Education
University of Nevada Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
USA
Lisa A. Borgerding
College of Education, Health,
and Human Services
Kent State University
Kent, OH
USA
ISBN 978-3-319-90938-7 ISBN 978-3-319-90939-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90939-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018940410
©Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
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agomez@cinvestav.mx
Contents
Part I Introduction
1 Evolutionary Theory as a Controversial Topic in Science
Curriculum Around the Globe ............................ 3
Hasan Deniz and Lisa A. Borgerding
Part II North and South America
2 Pedagogical Implications of American Muslims’Views on
Evolution ............................................. 15
Khadija E. Fouad
3 Project Teach Evolution: Preparing Biology Pre-service Teachers
to Teach Evolution in Missouri, U.S.A. ...................... 41
Patricia J. Friedrichsen, Larry G. Brown and Johannes Schul
4 Controversial Before Entering My Classroom: Exploring
Pre-service Teacher Experiences with Evolution Teaching and
Learning in the Southeastern United States .................. 59
Amanda L. Glaze and M. Jenice “Dee”Goldston
5 Case Studies in Teaching Evolution in the Southwestern U.S.:
The Intersection of Dilemmas in Practice .................... 81
Rachel J. Fisher
6 Evolution Education in Mexico, Considering
Cultural Diversity ...................................... 101
Alma Adrianna Gómez Galindo, Alejandra García Franco,
María Teresa Guerra Ramos, Eréndira Alvarez Pérez
and Joséde la Cruz Torres Frías
7 Evolution Education and the Rise of the Creationist Movement
in Brazil ............................................. 119
Alandeom W. Oliveira and Kristin L. Cook
vii
agomez@cinvestav.mx
8 Evolution Education in Galápagos: What Do Biology Teachers
Know and Think About Evolution? ........................ 137
Sehoya Cotner and Randy Moore
Part III Europe
9 Evolution Education in England ........................... 155
Michael J. Reiss
10 Evolution Education and Evolution Denial in Scotland .......... 169
J. Roger Downie, Ronan Southcott, Paul S. Braterman
and N. J. Barron
11 Teaching Evolution in Greece ............................. 195
Panagiotis K. Stasinakis and Kostas Kampourakis
12 Evolution Education in France: Evolution Is Widely Taught
and Accepted ......................................... 213
Marie-Pierre Quessada and Pierre Clément
13 Evolution Education in the German-Speaking Countries ........ 235
Erich Eder, Victoria Seidl, Joshua Lange and Dittmar Graf
Part IV Middle East
14 An Insight into Evolution Education in Turkey ............... 263
Ebru Z. Muğaloğlu
15 Evolution Education in Iran: Shattering Myths About Teaching
Evolution in an Islamic State ............................. 281
Mahsa Kazempour and Aidin Amirshokoohi
16 Evolution Education in the Arab States: Context, History,
Stakeholders’Positions and Future Prospects ................. 297
Saouma BouJaoude
Part V Asia
17 Evolution Education in Hong Kong (1991–2016): A Content
Analysis of the Biology Textbooks for Secondary School
Graduates ............................................ 315
Ka Lok Cheng and Kam Ho Chan
18 Evolution Education in Indonesia: Pre-service Biology Teachers’
Knowledge, Reasoning Models, and Acceptance of Evolution ..... 335
Arif Rachmatullah, Ross H. Nehm, Fenny Roshayanti and Minsu Ha
19 A Glimpse of Evolution Education in the Malaysian Context ..... 357
Yoon Fah Lay, Eng Tek Ong, Crispina Gregory K. Han
and Sane Hwui Chan
viii Contents
agomez@cinvestav.mx
20 Biological Evolution Education in Malaysia;
Where We Are Now .................................... 375
Kamisah Osman, Rezzuana Razali and Nurnadiah Mohamed Bahri
21 Evolution Education in the Philippines:
A Preliminary Investigation .............................. 391
Jocelyn D. Partosa
Part VI Africa
22 The Unusual Case of Evolution Education in South Africa ...... 409
Martie Sanders
Part VII New Zealand
23 Evolution Education in New Zealand ....................... 431
Alison Campbell
Part VIII Conclusion
24 Evolution Education Around the Globe: Conclusions
and Future Directions ................................... 449
Lisa A. Borgerding and Hasan Deniz
Contents ix
agomez@cinvestav.mx
Chapter 6
Evolution Education in Mexico,
Considering Cultural Diversity
Alma Adrianna Gómez Galindo, Alejandra García Franco,
María Teresa Guerra Ramos, Eréndira Alvarez Pérez
and Joséde la Cruz Torres Frías
Abstract Mexico is a megadiverse country with great biological and cultural
diversity. In this chapter, we address the analysis of the evolution education con-
sidering the enormous challenge related with these diversity, specially the presence
of indigenous groups, which speak more than 365 varieties of 65 languages. To
exemplify this challenge the comparison of two regions in Mexico are presented:
Monterrey city, in the Northwestern state of Nuevo Leon, characterized by a
development based on industrial growth and the Mayan Highlands in the
Southeastern state of Chiapas, which is one of the most culturally diverse places in
the country with over seventy percent of the population being indigenous. In our
analysis, two main issues emerge that require attention to improve the evolution
education in Mexico. The first one is evolution is not considered as a transversal
approach to biology curriculum rather it is presented as a list of concepts that would
need to be covered. The second one is the presence of a national curriculum in
which cultural diversity is not explicitly addressed and the diverse contexts of the
students are ignored. The dimension of this challenge to promote real evolution
education in Mexico and some suggestions to consider an intercultural perspective
are discussed in this chapter.
A. A. Gómez Galindo (&)!M. T. Guerra Ramos
Cinvestav Monterrey, Vía del conocimiento 201, Km. 9.5 Carretera nueva al aeropuerto,
Parque PIIT, 66600 Apodaca, Nuevo León, México
e-mail: agomez@cinvestav.mx
A. García Franco
División de Ciencias Naturales e Ingeniería, Departamento de Procesos y Tecnología,
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana—Cuajimalpa, Cuajimalpa, México
E. Alvarez Pérez
Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, UNAM,
Ciudad de México, México
J. de la Cruz Torres Frías
UdeG, Guadalajara, México
©Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
H. Deniz and L. A. Borgerding (eds.), Evolution Education Around
the Globe, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90939-4_6
101
agomez@cinvestav.mx
6.1 Introduction
The United States of Mexico, hereinafter Mexico, is one of the five countries in the
world considered as megadiverse. Within its territory 12% of the terrestrial biodi-
versity is represented (CONABIO). This biological diversity can be related to
cultural diversity (Maffi& Woodley, 2010) conforming what is known as biocul-
tural diversity. Mexico is also home of more than sixty different indigenous groups,
which speak more than 365 varieties of 65 languages. This multicultural compo-
sition was recognized in 1992 in the Constitution whose second article claims that
the nation has a multicultural composition originally based on its indigenous
peoples (CIESAS, CGEIB-SEP, et al., 2014).
The recognition of cultural diversity and the need to incorporate the knowledge
and language of indigenous cultures has been considered in formal education only
in recent times. For the most part, the goal of formal education was to integrate and
assimilate those who spoke a language other than Spanish (Ferreiro, 1994). The
2006 educational reform noted the importance of considering “the diversity of ways
of interpreting the world and how, in some cases, they [indigenous people] have
contributed to scientific development (for instance, herbalism), or indigenous
technological development which is beneficial for communities’relationship with
the environment,”(Barahona et al., 2014, p. 2261). Although textbooks have been
published in different indigenous languages and indicative texts for teachers have
been produced, there are very few materials that incorporate indigenous knowledge
or that propose concrete ways in which teachers could introduce indigenous
knowledge in the classroom (Ramírez Castañeda, 2006; García Franco, 2015).
Recognition of cultural diversity in science teaching is almost non-existent in
everyday practices in secondary education (Lazos Ramírez, 2015).
Diversity poses an enormous complexity when trying to characterize the state of
teaching evolution in México. In this chapter, a panorama of the state of teaching
evolution in the country will be presented. However, the need for considering an
intercultural dialogic education for the teaching of evolution will also be discussed
and reflected upon. This approach is currently missing from the discussion of
education in the country.
Besides presenting general considerations about teaching evolution in Mexico,
when possible, two contrasting regions in the country will be analyzed in order to
exemplify similarities and differences that could be relevant for teaching and
learning about evolution. One is in the Northwestern part of the country: Monterrey
City, in Nuevo León state, is characterized by a development based on industrial
growth. The other is in Southeastern Mexico, the Mayan Highlands in the state of
Chiapas, which is one of the most culturally diverse places in the country with a
72% of the population being indigenous, particularly Tzeltal and Tsotsil. Most
people in this region are involved in subsistence agriculture and the region remains
fundamentally rural and non-industrialized.
Finally, it will be argued how teaching evolution in Mexico has not acknowl-
edged the diversity of cultural and socioeconomic contexts of the Mexican
102 A. A. Gómez Galindo et al.
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population. Teaching evolution has failed to articulate the fundamental ideas of
evolution with the different contexts in which they can become significant. Some
ways in which biocultural diversity could be contemplated to the benefit of teachers
and students will be considered.
6.1.1 Country Context
Mexico is a country of North America, with 1,960,668 km
2
of surface and more
than 119 million inhabitants (INEGI, 2015). The density of population is 61
inhabitants per km
2
, but the distribution of the population in the country is diverse.
There are 3 main cities with very high population density, for example Mexico City
considered among the second most populated city in the world, with 5900 persons
per square kilometer. The main language in Mexico is Spanish. Currently Mexico is
the country with the largest number of Spanish speakers in the world. However,
there are also 65 indigenous languages with 365 different variants, and it is con-
sidered the seventh country with the largest linguistic diversity in the world. Over
seven million people in Mexico speak an indigenous language (6.5% of the pop-
ulation). However, 24% consider themselves indigenous (INEGI, 2016).
The diversity in Mexico is recognized in the Constitution, whose second article
(reformed in 1992) states “The Nation has a pluricultural composition based
originally in its indigenous people who descent from populations that inhabited the
current territory when colonization started, and that conserve their own social,
economic, cultural, and political institutions”.
In Mexico, the religious composition is mainly Catholic, however those who
profess a religion other than the majority or do not have a belief are almost fifteen
percent of the population and, for their classification, more than 250 religious
categories are needed (INEGI, 2010).
Mexico, is a secular country that contemplates a constitutional separation
between the State and the churches since the 19th century, but a strong link between
nationalism and Catholicism prevails (De la Torre and Gutiérrez, 2013).
The right to education is granted in the Mexican Constitution (article 3) that
states: “Every individual has the right to receive education. The State - Federal,
State, Federal District and Municipalities - will provide preschool, primary, sec-
ondary and upper secondary education; …shall be compulsory.”The general Law
of education establishes three levels of education: basic, upper secondary and
higher education. The basic level is comprised of preschool, primary and sec-
ondary, serves children from 3 to 15 years old, and is certified by official certificate.
By law, education in Mexico is secular and should exclude any religious doctrine; it
should be oriented by scientific progress and will fight against ignorance, fanaticism
and prejudices.
6 Evolution Education in Mexico, Considering Cultural Diversity 103
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6.2 Public Acceptance of Evolutionary Theory Within
the Country’s Social, Political, and Cultural Context
Darwin’s ideas about evolution were introduced in education in Mexico in 1875 by
Justo Sierra, who was a prominent educator and jurist (Moreno, 1989). From that
moment, these ideas were the subject of debate amongst biologists and philosophers
and were disseminated in the population. They also encountered opposition from
religious groups who tried to prevent such ideas from getting into education
(Comas, 2010).
However, the separation between the State and the Church that had been leg-
islated in the “Laws of Reform”in 1860 was fundamental to prevent that religious
ideas won the battle. Justo Sierra argued that scientific ideas should be taught
despite their differences with common sense, ideological or theological positions.
This debate was also important to disseminate evolutionary ideas for the public
(Barahona & Bonilla, 2009). In 1902 in the school dedicated to teacher preparation
(Normal de Maestros), the lecture of General Biology was created with an evolu-
tionary approach. A couple of years later the book ‘Notions of Biology’was edited
and widely used by generations of biology teachers in the country.
Despite its early introduction in the country, when compared to other regions in
Latin America (Comas, 2010), the current situation is not very optimistic. In the
National Survey about Perception of Science and Technology (INEGI, 2013) in
which more than 40 million people were surveyed, a large number of Mexicans
(forty percent) did not agree with the statement “Human beings are the product of
evolution from other animal species”. The proportion of respondents is different
according to education and gender. For example, seventy three percent of women
with higher education agreed with the statement and twenty eight percent of women
without any education agreed with the statement.
In this same survey two statements were presented and people were asked to
determine which was valid: (1) “Every living being, including human beings, plants
and animals have evolved through a process of natural selection”and (2) “All living
beings were created by a supreme being (God)”. Forty percent of the population
answered that both were valid which speaks of the relation people find between
evolution and a supreme being. In this same question, thirty four percent of
respondents (close to 14 million people) answered that the only valid statement was
that “All living beings were created by a supreme being (God)”. Even though
twenty three percent of respondents consider evolutionary theories as valid; this
percentage is less than those who consider the creation of living beings by God.
In a different study undertaken by the National Autonomous University of
Mexico (UNAM) called ‘Mexicans viewed by themselves’, over fifty percent of
respondents adhere to creationists ideas about the origin of life and the Universe,
whereas only forty were convinced that living beings have evolved over time. Even
between those who adhere to evolutionary theories, almost fifty percent said that
evolutionary process is guided by a supreme being, whereas thirty percent
responded that biological evolution is explained by natural processes such as
104 A. A. Gómez Galindo et al.
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natural selection. More relevant for the present chapter, forty-seven percent con-
sidered that creationism should be taught in the schools, and only thirty percent
agreed that schools should teach evolutionary ideas (Ruiz, 2016).
When confronted with this panorama, one could think that the public acceptance
of evolutionary theory is not very high, and that such acceptance is related to the
acceptance of evolution being taught in schools. There is, however, a need to
undertake more systematic research and profound analysis of the reasons behind the
trends in survey responses.
The relevance of religious beliefs and their influence on science learning is very
complex. It is necessary to acknowledge that science and religion are two different
realms of people’s lives. Within a pluralistic epistemology (Olivé,2009), different
sets of beliefs can coexist for any individual. However, the assumption that they do
not influence one another is an oversimplification and a comfortable position that
ignores the complex ways in which religious beliefs and science interact in daily
life and in school (Taber, 2017a).
Diversity of beliefs in the classroom is something that should be considered
when teaching evolution. Just as an example of such diversity we will present a
brief analysis of the diversity of religious beliefs in Monterrey and in the Chiapas
highlands. In a country with 119.5 million inhabitants; more than 92 million are
self-reported as Catholic (77%) and only 5 million reports having no religion
(INEGI, 2010). But, as has been stated, the country is very diverse and this diversity
is also present in the ways in which religious ideas permeate society, culture and
even politics. In the State of Chiapas, the proportion of Catholics is lower than in
the whole country and only 58% of the population is reported as such (De la Torre
& Gutiérrez, 2013). In the Chiapas Highlands, where more than 70% of the pop-
ulation is indigenous, there is an ample diversity of religions including Pentecostal,
Protestant, Evangelical and Islam. Mexico, like other Latin American countries, has
experienced a steady decline in the percentage of Catholic population. There are
reforms of territorial hegemony at municipal scales that are significant for under-
standing contemporary religious change. An example of this is that the 2010 census
detected 70 municipalities where Catholicism has come to occupy a place of reli-
gious minority; most of them are concentrated in the southeastern of the country,
predominantly in the state of Chiapas (43 out of 70) (De la Torre & Gutiérrez,
2013).
This change of religion has brought about new identities and ways of interacting
in society (Robledo Hernández & Cruz Burguete, 2005). It is worth mentioning that
there are many different versions of Catholicism and, in indigenous communities,
traditional (prehispanic) beliefs are highly intertwined with religious beliefs.
Lisbona Guillen (2013) has shown how even in large cities in Chiapas, the
indigenous presence is very relevant in form of last names, food and an intricate
array of festivities and social responsibilities related to religious creeds (particularly
Catholic). On the other hand, Monterrey is an industrial and business city with more
than 20 daily flights to the capital of the country and to the United States of
America and Europe. The state of Nuevo León reported 4.6 million inhabitants and
4 million as Catholic (87%).
6 Evolution Education in Mexico, Considering Cultural Diversity 105
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It should be expected that having such a different set of beliefs within one
classroom could impact the way in which evolutionary theory is learnt. These
differences, however, are not considered in the national curricula and teachers are
not prepared to deal or even consider how this diversity could be relevant for the
learning of their students (Lazos Ramírez, 2015).
6.3 The Existence and Extent of Influence
of Anti-evolution Movements in the Country
The presence of anti-evolution movements in Mexico has not been documented
even though some researchers (Comas, 2010) state that groups of activists are
proposing creationist or intelligent design ideas as an alternative to explain origin,
diversity and adaptation of organisms and are looking for their introduction in
general education. However there is no formal registry of any demand of excluding
contents related to evolution.
Conservative movements of families (such as the National Union of Parents) have
paid more attention to sexual education and how it is incorporated into the curricula
than to evolutionary education. But even if there is no formal movement against
teaching evolution or in favor of excluding certain contents or including others, the
widely held religious beliefs could play an important role in the actual possibility of
teaching evolution to all students despite their religious creeds (Taber, 2017b).
Biocultural research has extensively probed the inextricable links between bio-
logical, linguistic and cultural diversity (Terralingua, 2014). There are significant
correlations between regions of high biodiversity and areas or concentration of
human diversity (Oviedo, Maffi& Larsen, 2000). Therefore, there is a need to
consider cultural differences as well as the different beliefs present in the classroom
in order to teach evolution in a relevant way.
6.4 Place of Evolutionary Theory in the Curriculum
Until 2013, only basic education (i.e. preschool, primary, and secondary) was
compulsory in Mexico. In 2013 a bill declaring upper secondary education (high
school) as compulsory, was passed by the Congress. However it has hardly become
a reality.
By 2015, practically all children aged 5–12 years were registered in school, an
age range that covers the final year of preschool, primary and the first year of
secondary education. From the age of 13, the enrolment rate begins to decline (from
ninety seven at 13 years of age to seventy three at 15, falling to eight at age 24)
(INEE, 2015). This suggests that, for more than a third of the population, knowl-
edge of evolutionary biology is limited to what is learnt until secondary school.
106 A. A. Gómez Galindo et al.
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This section focuses principally on biological evolution content in the curricu-
lum for secondary education. The secondary curriculum is the same for the whole
country. The complete cycle lasts three years and is normally studied by students
between the ages of 12 and 15 (SEP, 2011).
The way in which evolutionary content has been considered in the curricula has
changed over time. As a historical reference, in the 1970 reform, content dealing
with evolution in primary education changed from being a list of topics to being one
of the foci in the free textbook underpinned by the 1993 curriculum (Barahona &
Bonilla, 2009). This guideline was also, though not very successfully, included in
the 2006 curriculum. Currently, the primary and secondary school curricular con-
tent is a long way from being integrated into the perspective of evolutionary
biology.
The list of topics related to evolution in the current curriculum would seem to
respond more to what has been branded official pedagogical rhetoric. This is also
applicable to the intercultural approach, which is neither part of nor related to the
evolutionary topics in this curriculum, but is to be found in the official discourse. In
the curriculum, there is no connection between the basic ideas of evolution and the
distinct cultural contexts in which they can become meaningful.
There are good reasons for believing that evolutionary theory rarely reaches
classrooms in an appropriate form even when, to a greater or lesser extent, it has
been taken into account in curricular designs. This is partially due to the incon-
sistency between curricular changes and early and in-service teacher training. This
is in addition to the quantity and complexity of content in science subjects, which
have a scientificist focus that can lead to encyclopedism and rote memorization
(Candela et al., 2012).
While this section deals with the place of evolutionary theories in the curricu-
lum, suffice it to say that research efforts in Mexico point in essentially the same
direction as many others throughout the world as regards the difficulties of learning
evolutionary concepts. Exactly the same results were obtained in two studies carried
out twelve years apart using similar instruments (Sánchez, 2000; Alvarez, 2015),
that is, poor learning on the part of secondary students in these subjects.
In both studies, the instruments used were multiple choice questionnaires that
covered problems relating to the origin of variation, its randomness with regard to
the needs of organisms, population changes over time resulting from natural
selection and the result they lead to (adaptation). The Sánchez study (op. cit.) aimed
at identifying `alternative conceptions` (in a sample of 90 students aged 12–15) and
the Alvarez study (op. cit.) was guided by the concept of epistemological obstacles
that González Galli (2011) (in a sample of 194 students aged 12–14). The results of
both authors show that, even after teaching, students predominantly opt for teleo-
logical thinking (that is, the assumption that things, including variation and evo-
lution, happen for a reason). Students should instead learn that evolutionary
phenomena do not revolve around predetermined purposes and that variation arises
at random (independently of the needs of the organisms and of the selective
pressures). Furthermore, in parallel with González Galli, Alvarez reported students’
persistence in ideas centered around the individual (described in other studies as
6 Evolution Education in Mexico, Considering Cultural Diversity 107
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‘not thinking in terms of populations’). As is well known, thinking in terms of
populations, rather than in terms of individuals, is essential for understanding
evolution. Finally, these studies also found that linear causal thinking is predomi-
nant in students (namely the assumption that all phenomena have a single cause
which operates in one single direction, for example, supposing that if an organism
needs certain traits, it obtains them). Here, students need to be helped to understand
that evolutionary phenomena are complex, usually have multiple causes, and
involve, moreover, probability and chance. Associated with this, biological evo-
lution frequently presents situations where there are reciprocal rather than unidi-
rectional effects, for example, when the environment influences the organisms, and
in turn these influence the environment.
In the two studies carried out at normal state schools in Mexico cited above,
students’average grade was under 5 in the first case, and 5 in the second (both on a
scale of 10). This suggests that the curricular changes implemented between 2000
and 2012 did not lead to improved learning of biological evolution.
The current curriculum includes one natural science subject per year in sec-
ondary school: biology in the first year, physics in the second and chemistry in the
third. This means that, for those who do not go beyond secondary education, this is
the only opportunity they will have to learn about biological evolution.
Additionally, this knowledge, which has transformed our way of seeing the world,
life, and humankind, will not be studied by high school students for more than
another two years.
In science I (emphasizing Biology), there is specific evolutionary biology con-
tent and the Teacher’s Guide stresses its importance. However, in at least one of the
frequently used free textbooks endorsed by the SEP (Limón et al., 2016) what is
emphasized is the description of adaptive traits, which is a long way from including
the evolutionary approach, lacking from the course content (Barahona et al., 2014).
To convey an evolutionary approach, course content would have to be directed
towards explaining how characteristics are acquired by species, and clarify the
historical process of interaction between the inheritable variation and natural
selection that produced them. In other words, it would be necessary to understand
the scientific model that explains adaptation and teach the cases that illustrate it in
the classroom.
In the secondary school curriculum, there are notable inconsistencies between
stated aims and evolutionary biology content. The model of evolution by inheritable
variation and natural selection is, of course, fundamental knowledge and is related
to events in daily life, as recognized in the Teacher’s Guide (1, 2010). The problem
is that no guidance is given on how it should be taught. What is needed when
explaining adaptation is a rigorous, sufficient and coherent selection of knowledge.
Similarly, it is necessary to teach the updated, theoretically contextualized
Darwinian model, which implies awareness of, its scope and its limits, as well as
pointing out that further models exist to explain other evolutionary phenomena
(Alvarez, 2015; Alvarez & Ruiz, 2015).
Despite the importance of variation as a universal characteristic of living beings
and crucial for understanding evolution, it is scarcely mentioned in the content.
108 A. A. Gómez Galindo et al.
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Without acquiring an understanding of individual differences, there is little chance
of understanding evolution. The concept of variation is particularly relevant in a
country as megadiverse as Mexico and is linked to the immediate environment. It
should be important to recognize that humans, as well as all other living beings
have the property of being different in each one of their traits, one of which is
culture. As long as the human species is part of biodiversity, cultural diversity (with
its emergent characteristics) is part as well. This relation, which is absent in the
current curriculum is particularly relevant in Mexico as well as in other countries
such as Mexico, Indonesia, India, Australia, Zaire and Brazil where there is a strong
correlation between cultural and biological diversity (Loa et al., 1998; Oviedo et al.,
2000).
In short, what the secondary education curriculum lacks is an evolutionary focus;
the content includes evolutionary biology concepts, but these have no structure.
There is a lack of linking elements in the curriculum from one school year to the
next creating obstacles for the consolidation of the scant content related to evolu-
tionary biology at primary school (children from 6 to 12). If this content were
suitably selected and focused, it could provide the foundation for acquiring fun-
damental knowledge of evolutionary biology in secondary school. The
subject-based curricular approach in these two school cycles hinders the progres-
sion of learning, a deficiency that extends into high school.
In addition to the above, the curricular content related to biological evolution
does not take into account the contextual mosaic that epitomizes Mexico, pointing
in the opposite direction to the intercultural dialogical educational approach that
such a biologically and culturally diverse country requires.
As mentioned at the beginning of this section, secondary education has a
national curriculum. At the same time, as Mexico is a megadiverse country in
biological and cultural terms, the universality of scientific knowledge and every
citizen’s right to learn about this portion of humankind’s inheritance goes hand in
hand with the right to recognize, value and ponder the traditional knowledge of the
indigenous peoples. This diversity could be considered as an asset and could be
used to explain evolution and to contextualize its relevance in terms of phenomena
that are familiar and relevant for students, particularly for those whose culture is
alien to science. But this is yet to be achieved.
6.5 Emphasis Given to Evolutionary Theory in Biology
Teacher Education Program
In Mexico, initial teacher training (for pre-school, primary and secondary school) is
undertaken in Escuelas Normales that can be public or private. These schools are
oriented by the National Program of Teacher Education of the Education Ministry
(SEP).
6 Evolution Education in Mexico, Considering Cultural Diversity 109
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In secondary school, besides the teachers graduated from Escuelas Normales,
anyone who holds a bachelor degree can become teacher. Science teachers can be
biologist, chemists, physicists, doctors, engineers, amongst others. The National
Institute for the Evaluation of Education (INEE) estimates that forty of the total
population of teachers (139,366) was educated in a university. These teachers do
not have any kind of initial teacher training.
The curriculum for teachers’education is national and is related to the study
programs that have been described previously in the chapter. This curriculum does
not consider cultural and socioeconomic diversity present in the country.
In this national curriculum, in preschool level there are two courses that cover
some elements for teaching evolution: “Living beings”and “Biodiversity as proof
for evolution”(SEP, 2012a).
Something similar happens for primary teachers. In the study programs, there are
two courses that cover elements for teaching evolution, including the subjects:
“Environment and Ecosystems”,“Recognition of ecosystems”, and “Ecology and
Biodiversity”(SEP, 2012b). Contents related to evolution are introduced as anec-
dotes doing very little to contribute to the construction of biological knowledge
articulated by theoretical-evolutive knowledge (Taber, 2017a).
In primary and secondary teacher education programs, evolutionary theory and
its teaching are approached superficially with a ‘hands-on’approach centered only
on phenomena and with little relation to theoretical underpinnings (for example,
environment and ecosystems issues are exemplified but not related with evolu-
tionary ideas, something similar happens with ecology and biodiversity). In sec-
ondary teachers’education, there is a dense theoretical conceptual approach that
does not leave room to contextualize examples or to introduce students’and local
knowledge (SEP, 2012c). Even in the specialization for biology teaching, evolution
is considered very simplified as an opening theme, as an historical anecdote as has
been found in other countries (Taber, 2017b). This does not allow that knowledge
about evolutionary biology is integrated as a focus to explain species’transfor-
mation through time.
In teacher education, evolution does not have a transversal integrative structure
that allows to comprehend evolution as a perspective to teach biology in every
educational level. In the curricular content, the description of the proximal causes
(physiological, morphological, etc.) do not incorporate distal causes, such as evo-
lutionary ones, related to variability and natural selection, adaptation, phylogeny,
etc. (Mayr, 1998).
Teacher education in Mexico does not have a diversified proposal that considers
cultural diversity and different socioeconomic contexts. There is not even a mention
for teachers to articulate disciplinary knowledge and students’every day and
communitarian lives. Indigenous or local knowledge is left out of the school, and
practices such as artificial selection of maize and of different vegetables are not
even considered. This knowledge could be readily related to teaching evolution that
would add more significant content since it is associated to the daily life of
indigenous populations (García Franco & Gómez Galindo, 2015).
110 A. A. Gómez Galindo et al.
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Currently in all the country, there is only one Escuela Normal which is
indigenous, intercultural and bilingual. It is located in the Zinacantán municipality
in the state of Chiapas. This Escuela Normal was the result of a struggle of a group
of teachers convinced that it was necessary to strengthen and reassess the linguistic
and cultural diversity of the native peoples in order to construct a national citi-
zenship that considers the contributions of the indigenous people (Baronet, 2008).
But even in this kind of teachers’school, there is no clear articulation between local
and scientific knowledge.
Teaching evolution in a different way would require an articulation of efforts in
order to explain evolutionary processes, how these were developed and how can
they explain phenomena relevant for students’daily life.
6.6 Biology Teachers’Attitudes Towards Teaching
Evolutionary Theory
Science teachers’attitudes, in general, have received scarce attention in empirical
studies in Mexico. Specifically, Mexican biology teachers’attitudes towards
teaching the theory of evolution remains as a theme to be investigated despite the
introduction of the evolutionary perspective in the science curriculum for ele-
mentary education since 1993 (Barahona & Bonilla, 2009).
This section offers the preliminary findings of our own effort to start exploring
teachers’acceptance of the theory of evolution and their attitudes towards teaching
evolution. Assuming that the acceptance of the theory of evolution is the basis for a
positive attitude towards teaching evolution, the aim was to explore both aspects
and look for relationships between them. In consequence, the MATE instrument
(Rutledge & Warden, 1999) was chosen as a research instrument. It consists of 20
Likert scale items which explore acceptance of (a) process of evolution, (b) scien-
tific validity of evolutionary theory, (c) evolution of humans, (d) evidence of
evolution, (e) scientific community’s views of evolution and (f) age of the Earth.
The MATE instrument was translated into Spanish to be used with Mexican pop-
ulation and this version validity and reliability is investigated in a larger ongoing
study. Additionally, 12 items more were developed to specifically address attitudes
towards teaching evolution. Consequently, the questionnaire ended up with 32
items.
This survey was taken by 43 secondary Biology teachers in the context of a
diploma course on science teaching competencies in which one of the authors of
this chapter participated during November 2016 in Monterrey, Nuevo León. In
Chiapas, there was not a similar opportunity because occasions for teacher prepa-
ration are scarcer and the work that two of the authors were doing was with a
handful of teachers. This situation is also representative of the diversity of condi-
tions in the country.
6 Evolution Education in Mexico, Considering Cultural Diversity 111
agomez@cinvestav.mx
Participant teachers were practicing teachers from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. They
were 18 males and 25 females, aged 23–57, all working in state secondary schools.
They had between 1 and 35 years of teaching experience. Concerning their aca-
demic background, 16 teachers held a first degree in education from teachers’
colleges, 14 hold a first degree from a university, 12 teachers held a master’s degree
and one had a doctorate.
In this pilot study of the 32-item instrument, data analysis sought statistical
evidence on the discriminative power of the items, which could tell us about the
validity of the questionnaire as a research instrument. For this purpose, t tests were
performed with SPSS v.14. Data were also processed statistically to identify pat-
terns and tendencies in teachers’responses. The frequencies of teachers’responses
to the MATE items and the ones regarding acceptance of the teaching of evolution
were obtained.
In our adaptation of the MATE instrument, the original Likert scale responses
(strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree) were conserved.
The items designed to explore attitudes towards teaching evolution followed the
same response format and were the following:
21. I include examples and ideas related to evolution in my classes.
22. Evolution is a complex theme for students, only natural selection should be taught.
23. It is convenient to teach about evolution in pre-school education.
24. Studying evolution helps my students to understand natural processes and phenomena.
25. I avoid examples and ideas related to evolution in my classes
26. It is convenient to teach about evolution in primary education.
27. Evolution is an accessible theme for students, any aspect of it can be taught
28. Teaching evolution and my religious beliefs enter in contradiction.
29. Teaching evolution should be excluded in education to children and teenagers.
30. Studying evolution does not help my students to understand natural processes and
phenomena.
31. Learning evolution and my students’religious beliefs enter in contradiction
32. It is convenient to teach about evolution in secondary education.
The item analysis indicated that 17 of 20 items of MATE in their Spanish
version had adequate discrimination power (t test, p< 0.05), this suggest that
teachers who obtain the higher scores and the lowest scores respond differently to
the items. Concerning the additional items about attitudes towards teaching evo-
lution, only one item obtained a non-significant t-test. Therefore, our comments on
the tendencies in teachers’responses should be taken as preliminary.
Teachers’scores in the MATE items were grouped into categories of acceptance
as suggested by Rutledge and Sadler (2007). Teachers tended to obtain high scores
indicating that 32 out of 43 showed high or very high acceptance of the theory of
evolution (Fig. 6.1).
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When teachers’scores in items regarding teaching evolution were grouped, it
was also noticed that most teachers (27 out of 43) reported to hold positive attitudes
towards teaching this theme (Fig. 6.2).
These preliminary findings indicate that most teachers tended to show moderate,
high or very high acceptance of the theory of evolution. Similarly, most of them
hold from moderate to high acceptance of teaching evolution. Therefore, at least in
these preliminary findings, teachers in the sample tended to accept evolution theory
and its teaching showing no major conflict in these two aspects.
Teachers’attitudes towards evolution theory and its teaching may be considered
of high relevance from a research perspective. However, it must be acknowledged
that for Mexican teachers’evolution is one curriculum theme among so many
Fig. 6.1 Frequencies in categories of acceptance corresponding to responses to 20 items of the
MATE instrument
Fig. 6.2 Frequencies in categories of acceptance corresponding to responses to 12 items
regarding teaching of evolution
6 Evolution Education in Mexico, Considering Cultural Diversity 113
agomez@cinvestav.mx
others. Much more controversy has arisen in the Mexican educational context from
themes related to human sexual reproduction and the use of contraceptives. Despite
this, it can be argued that teachers’attitudes towards the theory of evolution and its
teaching deserves more research since evolution is intended to be a central axis of
biology curriculum.
6.7 Suggestions to Improve Evolution Education
in Mexico
There is a clear need to encourage research on the public acceptance of evolutionary
theory and especially of teachers as has been made evident throughout this chapter.
The exploratory study that has been presented here shows that teachers have a high
acceptance of the theory and seem to be willing to teach it in their classrooms.
However, we need larger efforts to make sense of the reasons behind teachers’
responses as well as to extend the inquiry to include teachers from other states and
diverse educational contexts.
The analysis of the national curriculum (for teachers and for students) identifies
two large areas that would need to be reformed to improve the teaching of evolution
in the country. On one hand is the way in which content related to the theories of
evolution is presented. Our analysis shows that both to prepare students and to
prepare teachers evolution is presented as a list of concepts that would need to be
covered and these concepts are just some amongst a list of many others. To improve
understanding and application of evolutionary ideas, these should be incorporated
more articulately in teacher preparation. There should be a consideration of learning
progressions that acknowledges the previous knowledge required to understand and
construct theoretical models used to explain phenomena. The curricula for teacher
education should also establish the relation between these models and the way they
are introduced and constructed in the classroom. There is no need to include more
concepts into the list, but a need to elaborate a more integrated approach that is
consistent with the biologist’s view of evolution being in the center of under-
standing every phenomenon, as well as integrate different school levels.
On the other hand, there is a concern with the idea of using a national curriculum
that has no correspondence with the cultural diversity that characterizes this
country. This monolithic view of the curriculum has been nuanced in the political
discourse with the introduction of an intercultural approach. However, even when
textbooks have been translated to different indigenous languages and orientative
texts have been created, the objectives and ideals of an intercultural education are
yet to be realized (García Segura, 2004), an education that considers people
knowledge and concerns, and establish relations with the curriculum. This does not
mean there are not individual efforts in different parts of the country, but science
teaching and teaching evolution have not been the focus of research.
114 A. A. Gómez Galindo et al.
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The way in which evolution should be taught to indigenous students, using what
examples, and from what perspectives is inscribed in a pluralist epistemology
(Olivé,2009), according to which the diversity of ways of understanding the world
should be understood in every context. A diverse country such as Mexico has a
number of contexts and examples in which evolution is relevant and could be used
to understand biological and cultural diversity. In order to construct a truly inter-
cultural education, we would need to incorporate voices other than scientists’and
academics’that could have a perspective on what is relevant in the classrooms, the
problems that need to be understood, and to what ends. In this case, the theoretical
proposal cannot precede experience; rather it should be co-constructed incorpo-
rating indigenous voices both regarding educational policies as well as ways in
which these policies get enacted in the classrooms.
Teachers’in Mexico seem to have relatively high acceptance of evolutionary
theory and its teaching, which could mean that there is fertile ground to propose and
enact ways of teaching evolution more consistent with the current understanding of
evolution and that consider the diversity of contexts. There is, however, a need to
undertake studies that recognize differences between teachers in different parts of
the country.
Incorporating different voices into the discussion and considering cultural dif-
ferences could not be done within the framework of a national curriculum that
dictates that every student regardless of their interests and the place they inhabit
should know exactly the same. The reform of national curriculum in progress in
Mexico is a great opportunity to consider these ideas. Evolution is one of the tenets
of humankind, a theory that explains the current diversity and some ways in which
it could be preserved, but in order to make it relevant for the diverse lives of
teachers and students, the contextualization of ideas needs to become a reality.
Acknowledgements This work was supported by grants SEP/SEB 2013, No. 231425 and SEP/
SEB 2014-01, No. 240192 by Conacyt, Mexico.
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Alma Adrianna Gómez Galindo is lecturer-researcher in the Center for Research and Advanced
Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (Cinvestav) in Monterrey, México. She has a degree
as teacher of early childhood education, is a marine biologist and has a PhD in didactics of science.
She performs qualitative research on biology education, focusing in teaching - learning sequences
for modeling by using multimodal representations and analogies. Her current projects include the
analysis of dialogic perspectives for teaching evolution in cultural diversity contexts and
developing of learning progressions for central models in biology to guide learning from
kindergarten to middle school.
6 Evolution Education in Mexico, Considering Cultural Diversity 117
agomez@cinvestav.mx
Alejandra García Franco is a Chemical Engineer and has a PhD in Pedagogy from the National
Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She is a teacher-researcher at the Autonomous
Metropolitan University –Cuajimalpa. She is interested in intercultural scientific education and
has collaborated for education projects with indigenous people in Mexico. She is also interested in
chemistry learning and the design of teaching learning sequences for teacher training.
María Teresa Guerra-Ramos is a lecturer-researcher in Educational Psychology and Biology
Education at the Center of Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav), Monterrey Unit; located in
the North-East region of Mexico. She teaches master and doctoral level courses in collaboration
with academic programs within Cinvestav around the country. Her research interest is focused on
teachers´representations of scientists and scientific activity, the development of teaching
competences, features of discourse in Biology teaching-learning interactions and collaboration
among teachers and researchers for pedagogical innovation.
Eréndira Alvarez Pérez is a Full Professor in the Science Faculty of the National Autonomous
University of Mexico (UNAM). It is biologist, Master of Science (in education and history of
biology) and a PhD in biological sciences. It conducts research and teaching in the didactics of
evolutionary biology, focusing on the generation of didactic resources in this field. Her current
projects include dialogue between disciplines and research approaches to address the teaching and
learning of fundamental knowledge of evolutionary biology throughout the educational system.
Joséde la Cruz Torres Frías has a PhD in Education and is currently a postdoctoral fellow in
didactics of science in the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav) of the
Polytechnic Institute Nacional-Unidad Monterrey, Mexico. He is a member of the National System
of Researchers in Mexico. Current lines of research: 1) training for research in higher education
and postgraduate courses, 2) In-service science teachers’training in primary and secondary school.
118 A. A. Gómez Galindo et al.
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