ERIC Number: EJ1032749
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 64
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0958-5176
Secondary School Teachers' Perspectives on Teaching about Topics That Bridge Science and Religion
Billingsley, Berry; Riga, Fran; Taber, Keith S.; Newdick, Helen
Curriculum Journal, v25 n3 p372-395 2014
The question of where to locate teaching about the relationships between science and religion has produced a long-running debate. Currently, science and religious education (RE) are statutory subjects in England and are taught in secondary schools by different teachers. This paper reports on an interview study in which 16 teachers gave their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities when teaching topics that bridge science and religion and the extent to which they collaborated with teachers in the other subject areas. We found that in this sample, teachers reported very little collaboration between the curriculum areas. Although the science curriculum makes no mention of religion, all the science teachers said that their approaches to such topics were affected by their recognition that some pupils held religious beliefs. All the RE teachers reported struggling to ensure students know of a range of views about how science and religion relate. The paper concludes with a discussion about implications for curriculum design and teacher training.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Secondary School Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Cooperation, Religious Education, Science Education, Interdisciplinary Approach, Student Attitudes, Semi Structured Interviews
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: England

Peer reviewed
Direct link
