Table Of ContentNeanderthals in the
Classroom
Elizabeth Watts
Research Group for Biology Education
Institute for Zoology and Evolutionary Research
Faculty of Biological Sciences
Friedrich Schiller University
Jena, Germany
p,
p,
A SCIENCE PUBLISHERS BOOK
A SCIENCE PUBLISHERS BOOK
Cover image: "The Thinker" at State Museum of Prehistory in Halle, Germany
Credit: State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt; Photographer: Juraj
Lipták
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For Zoey—my thunder & joy
Organic life beneath the shoreless waves
Was born and nurs’d in ocean’s pearly caves;
First forms minute, unseen by spheric glass,
Move on the mud, or pierce the watery mass;
These, as successive generations bloom,
New powers acquire and larger limbs assume;
Whence countless groups of vegetation spring,
And breathing realms of fin and feet and wing.
- Erasmus Darwin. The Temple of Nature.
1802.
Foreword
Much to Like About Neanderthals in the Classroom
Neanderthals in the Classroom (hereafter Neanderthals) is an important book for
science educators, of many types, situated in many parts of the world. Importantly,
the topics of creation science and evolution have been of interest to Elizabeth Watts
in many facets of her life, giving her the drive to do the research necessary to write a
comprehensive book. Her inquiries have yielded a panorama of the battles that have
raged in regard to the inclusion of evolution in a science curriculum for all. Watts
colorfully illustrates the struggles of those who are not only opposed to a requirement
that they must learn about evolution, but also to others learning about evolution and
acting in the world in ways that diminish their identities—those who accept literal
understandings of creation as it is laid out in the Bible.
Watts uses multiple methods to present the problem of creationism versus
evolution in a deep context informed through a variety of lenses. The narratives
Watts presents, including interviews with converted creationists, are compelling and
bring central facets of the problem to life. These stories connect well with theories
grounded in neuroscience that highlight the centrality to learning of creation and
retention of negative emotions, such as anger and fear, emanating from knowledge
of evolution undermining the identities of those whose beliefs about creation are
grounded in literal interpretations of the Bible, reinforced by families and tight-knit
fundamentalist communities.
Watts has examined the creationism versus evolution issues historically—and to
the extent to which it is relevant, the legal milestones—legislative and prosecutorial.
Watts uses lenses that range from nations and states to schools, classrooms, families,
and individuals. In so doing she examines concept learning in a context of emotional
flux, resistance in the face of identity change, and physiological changes as
individual’s autonomic systems detect physical and social danger as learners create
anger and fear based on their understandings of the consequences of disobeying tenets
of the Bible and interpretations of those who teach religion in a fundamentalist way.
Watts’ approaches provide the groundwork to consider ways in which teachers enact
a curriculum to support conceptual change about understanding evolution and how to
ameliorate and be more aware of negative emotions, their origins, and consequences.
Readers of Neanderthals consider emotions and their manifestation in the body,
especially as it relates to social communication (parasympathetic) and fight-flight
actions (sympathetic) of learners (Porges 2011). Watts considers interventions that
viii Neanderthals in the Classroom
include the use of heuristics to illuminate characteristics of a class in which students
learn about evolution, breathing meditation to ameliorate emotions, and strategies
to promote mindfulness to ensure that negative emotions do not stick to ongoing
conduct—thereby promoting environments that are not conducive to learning.
Watts is clear that science for all includes all students learning about evolution.
She provides ample support for readers to enact curricula to promote learning and
for teacher educators and policy makers to build an infrastructure of support for
teachers, learners, and families and communities that are affected when evolution
and beliefs about creation are conflictive. All stakeholders can learn from careful
reading of Neanderthals.
Is Creationism versus Evolution just an American Problem?
In 2009, Hisashi Otsuji and colleagues were presenting a paper on undercurrents
of Buddhism in contemporary practices of science education in Japan (Otsuji
et al. 2009). The occasion was the first biennial conference of the East Asian Science
Education Association, held in Taiwan. Within moments of beginning the address,
Otsuji was asked a question about the challenges of creationism while seeking to
teach evolution. For a moment, Otsuji looked exasperated at the question being
posed. He then responded, to the effect, that Shintoism and Buddhism comprised
more than 95% of religious followers in Japan, compared to approximately 1%
Christians. Otsuji continued, “creationism is not a big problem in Japan, so we will
focus on the problems in Japan.” As a segue to Otsuji continuing his presentation,
someone in the audience interjected, “creationism is an American problem.”
The distribution of religious followers in Japan is strikingly different than the
United States, and also the world. A 2017 study of the changing global religious
landscape, undertaken by the Pew Foundation, shows that Christians have the
largest following and will not be surpassed by Muslims until much later in this
century. The present world ranking of religious followers is Christians, Muslims,
unaffiliated, Hindus, and Buddhists. Accordingly, demographics suggest there
is a potential for creationism to be a worldwide problem, especially within some
Christian communities. Based on these demographic trends, the creation—evolution
dilemma, which is a central focus of Neanderthals, has relevance to science educators
throughout the world. In addition, Watts has looked in depth at numerous issues that
have considerable relevance to educators (e.g., teachers, students, teacher educators,
researchers, policymakers) throughout the world. Putting this another way, the case
of creation science and teaching evolution can be considered as a context that shines
light on myriad problems. Hence, Neanderthals is a useful resource for educators
writ large. Watts thoughtfully addresses issues that will no doubt catch the attention
of readers as they consider challenges they face, wherever and however, they are
situated in global education.
Foreword ix
Freedom to Make Sense of Religion and its Texts
The following quote from Osho (also known as Rajneesh), who is a spiritual leader,
provides some remarks on Taoism—extreme perspectives on religion and freedom
(Osho 2005, pp. 4–5):
Christianity, Hinduism, Mohammedanism are super-highways: you need
not risk anything, you simply follow the crowd, you go with the mob. With
Tao you have to go alone, you have to be alone. Tao respects freedom and
not conformity. Tao has no tradition. Tao is a rebellion, and the greatest
rebellion possible… . Tao says that if you impose a discipline on yourself,
you will be a slave. The discipline has to arise out of your awareness, then
you will be a master. If you impose order on your life this will be just a
pretension: the disorder will remain deep in the very core of your being;
the order will be on the surface, at the center there will be disorder. This
is not going to help. The real order arises not from the outside, but from
the innermost core of your being. Allow disorder, don’t repress it. Face it,
take the challenge of disorder—and by taking the challenge of disorder and
living it, living dangerously, an order arises in your being. That order is out
of chaos, not out of any pattern.
To some extent the quote from Osho shows just how difficult it is for the
suggestions provided by Watts to actually succeed—that is, for creationists to
understand evolution and change their identities and aspects of their lifestyles.
In Neanderthals, Watts examines two discourse communities that are referred
to as fundamentalism and science. These discourses are incommensurable in a
context of teaching and learning evolution—which is a foundational construct in
studies of the life sciences. Watts zeros in on a number of salient issues pertaining
to problems that are often encountered when science students have a background
in living as, and learning about, religion in a fundamentalist way that emphasizes
literal understandings of the Bible. Importantly, Watts addresses ways in which
emotions such as anger and fear can create barriers to learning science associated
with evolution. For such students, the tenets of science clash with religious principles
from the Bible, reinforced by parents, siblings, peers from school, and learning from
active participation in church activities. Accordingly, much of Watts’ framing of
problems and approaches to teaching and learning, involves learning, the role of
emotion, and associated physiological responses to negative emotions such as anger
and fear. More is needed than being aware that religious fundamentalists will be
antagonistic to learning about evolution and participating in curricular activities that
include evolution.
Watts advocates proactive approaches to teaching and learning that highlight
heightening awareness to salient characteristics of teaching and learning evolution
when creationism is an issue; ameliorating negative emotions using breathing
