Evolution Korea
The financial crisis that struck Asia required a major review of the old model of government-business alliances and public management of private risks. In Korea, that meant a shift in the development model.
In a controversial move South Korea's government has requested textbook publishers not to comply with calls to remove examples of evolution from science textbooks for high school students. This includes the evidence of the evolution of horses and of the bird ancestral Archaeopteryx.
- Evolution and Religion
A South Korean creationist group has persuaded textbook publishers to remove evidence of evolution from high-school science texts. The Society for Textbook Revise, an offshoot of the Korea Association for Creation Research which aims to rid biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the decision. The STR claims that such materialism creates negative images to students, making them abandon their faith.
Scientists from all over the world expressed concerns when the STR campaign was featured in the news. Jae Choe, evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul wrote in a letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. He was backed up by colleagues across the country, who set up a group called Evolution Korea to organize a petition to protest the changes to the textbooks.
Some researchers are also worried that the STR campaign will spread to other parts of the world where the belief in the prevalence of creationism is rising. The letter to Nature warned that the anti-evolutionist movement will push for textbook revisions in other countries, notably those with large Christian and Muslim population.
South Korea has a particularly powerful cultural backdrop for the evolution debate. 26 percent of South Koreans are members of a religious community and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo, an ideology based on Confucian principles that emphasizes social harmony, individual self-cultivation and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo teaches that the human being is one with Hanulnim the God of Sun and that the heavenly blessings can be achieved by doing good deeds.
All of this has provided an ideal environment for the spread of creationism. A number of studies have demonstrated that students who have religious backgrounds tend to feel more uncomfortable about learning evolution than those without religion. The causes behind this are not obvious. One possible explanation is that students who have a religious background tend not to be as familiar with scientific theories and concepts and are therefore more vulnerable to the influence of creationists. Another reason could be that students with a religious background may view evolution as an idea that is agnostic, making them feel less comfortable.
- Evolution and Science
In recent years, anti-evolution campaigns in schools have raised concern within the scientific community. A 2009 survey revealed that over 40 percent of Americans believe that biological evolution is not true, and that a belief in it could be in conflict with their religious beliefs. Despite the fact that creationism has been a huge success in some states, many scientists feel that the best strategy to combat this inclination is not to actively engage in it, but rather to educate people about the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists are accountable for teaching their students science, which includes the theory of evolution. They should also inform the public about the process of scientific research and the way in which knowledge is validated. They should explain how theories of science are frequently challenged and changed. However, misunderstandings regarding the nature of scientific research frequently cause people to believe that evolution is not real.
Some people interpret the term "theory" as a guess or guess. In science, however, an hypothesis is rigorously tested and empirical data is used to confirm it. A theory that is repeatedly tested and observed becomes a scientific principle.
The debate over the evolutionary theory provides a great occasion to discuss the importance of the scientific method and its limitations. It is crucial for people to recognize that science cannot answer questions regarding the purpose or meaning of life but it is merely a means by which living things can grow and change.
A comprehensive education should include exposure to all major scientific fields including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because the jobs people are employed in and the decisions they make require a knowledge of how science works.
The vast majority scientists in the world believe that humans have evolved over time. A recent study that predicted the adults' opinions of the consensus around this issue found that those with higher education levels and science knowledge were more likely to believe that there is a general consensus among scientists on the subject of human evolution. The people with more religious faith and less science-based knowledge are more likely to disapprove. It is essential that educators insist on the importance of knowing the general consensus on this issue, so that people have a solid basis for making informed decisions about their health care, energy use and other policy issues.
- Evolution and Culture
A close cousin to mainstream evolutionary theory, cultural evolution studies the numerous ways humans--and other organisms--learn from and with one another. Researchers in this area use explanatory tools and investigative models adapted from evolutionary theorists. They also go back to human prehistory to discover the earliest sources of culture.
This approach also acknowledges the differences between the characteristics of culture and biological. While biological traits are largely inherited all at once (in sexual species, during fertilization), cultural traits can be acquired over a lengthy period of time. The acquisition of one cultural characteristic can affect the development and growth of another.
In Korea the introduction of Western styles in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was the result of a complex sequence of events. One of the most important was the appearance in Korea of Japanese occupation forces that introduced Western hairstyles and clothing.
When Japan left Korea in the 1930s, some of these trends began to reverse. By the end of World War II, Korea had once again unified and was again under the rule of the Choson dynasty.
Today, Korea is an economic and political power. Despite the current global financial crisis, Evolutionkr.Kr the economy of Korea has grown steadily in the past decade and is set to maintain its steady growth in the coming years.
The current government faces numerous challenges. One of the biggest is the inability to come up with an effective strategy to tackle the economic crisis. The crisis has exposed the shortcomings of the country's economic policies, including its excessive dependence on exports and foreign investment, which may not be sustainable over the long term.
The crisis has shaken confidence of investors. This means that the government needs to rethink its strategy and find other ways to boost the domestic demand. It also needs to reform the incentive monitoring, control, and discipline systems that are currently in place to create a stable financial environment. This chapter presents several scenarios of how the Korean economy could develop post-crisis.
- Evolution and Education
The challenge for educators of evolution is how to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for various ages and stages of development. Teachers should, for instance be aware of the religious diversity in their classrooms and create a welcoming environment where students from both secular and religious beliefs are comfortable. Teachers must also recognize common misconceptions about evolution and how to deal with them in their classrooms. Additionally, teachers should be able to access a range of resources for teaching evolution and be able to locate them quickly.
In this context, Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation played an important role in bringing evolutionary researchers and educators from various sectors to discuss best practices for teaching about Evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies as well as educational research, government funding agency officials and curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse parties helped to identify a shared set of recommendations that will be the basis for future action.
One of the most important recommendations is that the study of evolution should be incorporated in all science curricula at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) which require the integration of evolution across all life sciences with an educational progression that is developmental appropriate, are a way to accomplish this goal. Additionally, a new publication from the NRC offers guidelines for schools on how to integrate evolution into their life science curriculum.
Multiple studies have proven that a more complete explanation of evolution can lead to better understanding by students and belief in evolution. It is difficult to estimate causal effects in the classroom since school curricula don't change randomly and are influenced by the timing of state boards of education and the gubernatorial election. To overcome this problem I utilize a longitudinal data set which allows me to account for fixed state and year effects as well as individual-level variations in the beliefs of teachers about changes in the curriculum.
Teachers who are more comfortable teaching evolution have less internal barriers. This is in line with the notion that more experienced faculty are less likely to avoid evolution-related topics in the classroom, and may be more inclined to employ strategies like a reconciliatory method that is known to boost undergraduate students' acceptance of evolution.