Should we teach creationism in science classes?
No. A Fellow of the Royal Society argues that we should; Michael Reiss believes it to be self-defeating to dismiss pupils who really feel that a god created life. And he’s right, up to a point. We shouldn’t refuse to discuss creationism; you’ll not persuade someone of a point of view if you won’t speak to them.
But beyond that, he misses the point. We shouldn’t teach creationism as a legitimate, scientific point of view; because it’s not, and it doesn’t claim to be. The theory states that a divine being literally created life, the universe, and everything. As such, it’s explicitly based in faith, both in a god, and a theory. It isn’t an empicically tested hypothesis, as inclusion in a science lesson would suggest.
And yet that’s how it’ll be taken; children expect what they’re taught in a Science to be demonstrably true. Far from challenging creationism, encouraging Science teachers to include it in their lessons will simply lend it the perception of fact. We should teach pupils about creationism, and the debate that surrounds it - but in RS, along with every other belief system based in faith above empiricism.
The Times article was pretty misleading, because Professor Reiss was only arguing that one should discuss creationism if pupils happen to hold it as a belief.
He’s now been asked to step down, proving that the most clever people can be both idiotic and dishonest.