Recurrence of the Same? Intelligent Design and the Biology Classroom
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Borenstein, Jason
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Abstract
As the complex and heated debates between evolution's supporters and its critics continue, teachers and school boards are struggling to figure out how to handle the issue of the origin of human life within biology classrooms. Controversy circulating around evolution had caused some states, including Georgia, to remove the word "evolution" from the science curriculum and evade teaching about the subject matter. Recently, critics have offered forward a view called intelligent design (ID), which purports to illustrate conceptual and empirical shortcomings in evolutionary theory. Intelligent design supporters argue that students should be made aware of these shortcomings and suggest that alternatives to evolution need to be taught, which may include intelligent design. Yet a key issue that needs to be resolved is whether it is a sound pedagogical approach to teach intelligent design alongside evolution, which may in part be figured out by determining whether it is a true rival (or perhaps compliment) to evolutionary theory. In this article, my primary aim is not to proclaim that the theory of intelligent design is false. Rather, it is to argue that intelligent design does not belong in high school biology classrooms at this point in time.
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2005
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Working Paper