NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2013/07/12
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2013-07-12 15:42.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Antievolution activity is still a problem in Turkey. NCSE is seeking a new editor for Reports of the NCSE. And climate change is back in the national curriculum in Britain.
CONTINUING CONCERN ABOUT ANTIEVOLUTIONISM IN TURKEY A funding application for a summer workshop on evolutionary biology in Turkey was denied because "evolution is a controversial subject," according to Science Insider (July 5, 2013). A group of Turkish ecologist and evolutionary biologists working in Turkey and abroad had sought 35,000 Turkish lira (about $18,000) from the Science and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), the main funder of scientific research in Turkey. TUBITAK rejected the application on the grounds that "evolution is both nationally and universally a controversial subject. … It is difficult to regard it as an activity on which a consensus can be reached. … Since evolution is still a debated issue, the degree to which the organizers represent the community/country is very questionable" -- although, puzzlingly, the letter also described evolution as "the glue of all biological sciences." Erol Akcay, a Turkish evolutionary biologist at Princeton University involved in organizing the worksop, told Science Insider, "It sets a very dangerous precedent ... Today it might be a summer school that is fairly cheap … but tomorrow it could be a young researcher coming up for tenure." The workshop will proceed without TUBITAK's funding; Akcay commented, "We have raised a little above 3,000 Turkish Lira, and donations are still coming in." A representative of TUBITAK denied that the agency had any reservations about supporting evolutionary biology per se, and cited its recent funding of a workshop on human evolution in Ankara. But the organizer of that workshop observed that a proposal for a further workshop was denied in part because of doubts about the "universality" of evolution, and was confident in attributing "anti-evolutionist motives" to TUBITAK. As NCSE previously reported, there is a long-standing concern about the state of evolution education in Turkey at both the pre-college and the university level. A useful review by Zehra Sayers and Zuhal Ozcan, writing in APS News (June 2013),concluded, "Turkey is raising a generation of biologists/scientists whose grasp of scientific thinking is flawed and whose ability to participate in modern biology is correspondingly compromised." For the Science Insider story, visit: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2013/07/turkish-scientists-see-new-evide.html For the APS News story, visit: http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201306/international.cfm And for NCSE's previous coverage of events overseas, visit: http://ncse.com/news/international HELP WANTED: RNCSE EDITOR NCSE is seeking to hire a new editor for Reports of the National Center for Science Education to replace Andrew J. Petto, who is retiring after more than sixteen years of editing RNCSE. The part-time position involves evaluating the suitability of articles submitted for publication, working with authors to develop their articles and features before publication, identifying and recruiting prospective authors, supervising the production and circulation staff, and performing various editorial, copyediting, and proofreading chores as needed. Further information about duties, qualifications, salary and benefits, and the application process is available from NCSE's job page. For the announcement at NCSE's job page, visit: http://ncse.com/about/jobs For information about RNCSE, visit: http://reports.ncse.com CLIMATE EDUCATION SAVED IN BRITAIN? Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education in the United Kingdom, "has abandoned plans to drop climate change from the geography national curriculum," reported the Guardian (July 5, 2013). As NCSE previously explained, whereas the existing national curriculum discusses sustainable development and "its impact on environmental interaction and climate change" in the section on geography, a new draft of the curriculum was silent about climate change in the section on geography. The silence about climate change prompted speculations about political interference in the revision process and worries about the effect on students: Doug Bourn, director of the development education research center at the Institute of Education, told the Guardian (March 18, 2013) that with the omission of any mention of climate change in the curriculum, "The danger is that it will now not be taught at all or that the vacuum could be filled by people who are not positive about it, like deniers." Now, however, the Guardian reports, "Those familiar with the final version say it will be clear about the role of humans in climate change. It will refer to how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate, and how humans depend on the effective functioning of natural systems." The newspaper credited Ed Davey, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for his efforts to convince Gove to restore climate change. Writing on the Guardian's Environment blog (July 8, 2013), Leo Hickman welcomed the change, but warned that it "might be a little premature ... to claim total victory," observing, "the wording has only been amended for key stage 3 (ages 11-14), not key stages 1-2. This still means that a child can pass through primary school without the national curriculum demanding that they be taught about climate change." Additionally, he noted that while climate change was restored, sustainable development was not. For the July 5, 2013, story in the Guardian, visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jul/05/michael-gove-climate-change-geography-curriculum For the March 18, 2013, story in the Guardian, visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/18/climate-change-schools-backlash For Hickman's post on the Guardian's Environment blog, visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/jul/08/climate-change-geography-national-curriculum And for NCSE's previous coverage of events overseas, visit: http://ncse.com/news/international Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x305 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
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