Would you then also agree that a priest or active representative of any
religion would fill the position of judge?
Alexander Hellemans
On Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:03:10 +0100, "Dominic McDonald"
<[log in to unmask]> said:
> Sometimes I despair, I really do. Speaking as an atheist who only knows
> Michael Reiss very vaguely, I think the whole thing is a crying shame. I
> only hope that the people who reacted to his comments in such a gormless
> way are able to recognise the prejudices that underlay their comments.
>
> Buffoons.
>
> Dom
>
> Dom McDonald
> Head of Public Programmes
> Science Oxford
> 1-5 London Place
> St Clements
> Oxford OX4 1BD
>
> tel: 01865 728953
> fax: 01865 791854
> www: scienceoxford.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: psci-com: on public engagement with science
> [ mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of jenny koenig
> Sent: 18 September 2008 13:26
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [PSCI-COM] Royal Society in the news
>
>
> I guess you will all be aware of the resignation of the Royal Society's
> director of education. I think this has important consequences for
> science communication as well as science education. Dr Keith Taber of
> the Faculty of Education in Cambridge has written an email response to
> the Times Educational Supplement which I received through a science
> education list and I've copied it below. I think it makes a very strong,
> evidence-based case and in my view the same principles apply to science
> communication with adults as they do to education in schools. To me the
> Royal Society's decision sends a message that scientists aren't prepared
> to even listen to people. If that is the case then we will simply be
> "preaching to the converted".
>
> One of my interests is engaging complementary and alternative health
> practitioners in the science of pharmacology and that is the reason I
> worry about this sort of thing. Any comments/advice from others involved
> in potentially contentious fields would be welcomed!
>
> Dr Jennifer Koenig
>
> Consultant
> Science ETC
> www.sci-etc.co.uk
>
>
> Keith's email is below - from the "learning-science-concepts" mailing
> list.
>
> On Sep 17 2008, Dr. Keith S. Taber wrote:
>
> >Copy of email sent to the Times Educational Supplement
> >
> >I was saddened to learn of the Royal Society's decision (announced
> >today at http://royalsociety.org/) to ask Prof. Michael Reiss to
> >stand down form his post as Director of Education following
> >widespread coverage of remarks he made about teaching evolution to
> >students with creationist world-views. The gist of Prof. Reiss'
> >argument was that the appropriate response to students who raise
> >their beliefs in class when they are taught the scientific theory of
> >natural selection should not be to ignore, dismiss or ridicule the
> >students' views, but rather to respect their ideas as a starting pint
> >for discussion, and to challenge them through the scientific
> >arguments that have led to evolution by natural selection becoming
> >some a strongly supported and widely accepted model for how life on
> >earth has developed.
> >
> >Prof. Reiss' comments are said to have damaged the reputation of the
> >Royal Society. As it seems accepted that, as Prof. Reiss has made it
> >absolutely clear, he was not suggesting teaching creationist ideas
> >(as some misleading media reports implied or suggested); and that his
> >views about the status of evolution (as a successful scientific
> >theory) and creationism (as something that is not scientifically
> >supported and so not a scientific theory or model) seem totally in
> >keeping with the broad scientific consensus, it is hard to see how
> >his comments are objectionable. If the mis-reporting was seen as
> >potentially damaging to the Royal Society, then it should have taken
> >the opportunity to use the widespread media interest to reiterate and
> >explain its own position.
> >
> >I can only conclude that what was found objectionable about Prof.
> >Reiss' position was that he was using his vast experience as a
> >science teacher and researcher of science classrooms to suggest that
> >certain approaches naively offered by some academic scientists with
> >no experience of teaching in the school system, are likely to be
> >ineffective. Rather, he draws upon the widely accepted,
> >evidence-based position adopted by most science educators, that the
> >best way to develop children's thinking is to give them the chance to
> >talk about their ideas, and to explore and understand why scientists
> >have come to understand things differently. This general principle is
> >central to science education, and is strongly supported by research
> >evidence: just as natural selection is in biology. It reflects the
> >scientific values of maintaining an open mind, and of considering and
> >evaluating evidence, that we hope to instill in students. Of course,
> >children with strong creationist views may not be prepared to
> >question their existing ideas if these are central to their cultural
> >and family identities: but Reiss' recommendations make more sense
> >than simply dismissing their ideas as irrelevant and telling them to
> >instead learn something that contradicts their own strong
> >convictions. Children's creationist views may be irrelevant to
> >science, but they are highly significant to both their learning of
> >the science, and their developing attitudes to science as a source of
> >reliable knowledge. Those FRS who decided to ignore this and call for
> >Reiss dismissal, seem to be forgetting that their own expertise is in
> >science, not schooling, which is presumably why they appointed a
> >science teacher and educational researcher to high office in the
> >Society.
> >
> >In summary, the decision to dismiss Reiss seems to suggests that some
> >academic scientists feel they know best in education, and are not
> >prepared to listen to experts informed by a different field of
> >research than their own. I fear that it will be this decision to sack
> >rather than explain which could bring the Royal Society in disrepute,
> >not the inaccurate reporting of a talk in the media. In my view, the
> >Royal Society has today done a disservice to science education in the
> >UK, and so indirectly to the future of science.
>
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