What Is the Point of Education Anyway?

The Panda's Thumb pointed out this article from the Tucson Weekly. It's about a 5 minute read and covers the debate over science education in Arizona.

Here's an interesting excerpt quoting Arizona Sen. Karen Johnson:


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To Johnson, a Christian fundamentalist, the teaching of evolution in the schools isn't simply unfair; it could be "faith-destroying," she says.

"It's hard for me to understand how evolution can get put into school science programs and get stuffed down the throats of those who don't want to hear it and who don't believe it anyway," Johnson says. "Children should choose what they want to believe. ... Science is basically the search for truth. The opposite of truth is myth. In my opinion, evolution is a myth. Those who adhere to the evolutionary theory, it's like a religion for them."

When Johnson talks to constituents, she's often struck by how few accept evolution.

"I can only find a few who think (the) theory of evolution has any merit," she says, "like professors at universities."

Yikes--I see several problems here. What is the point of education if it only confirms what we already thought? Like she said, the children are free to decide what they want to believe, but does that mean that they shouldn't be exposed to new ideas--especially those fundamental to a topic they are studying? And those darn universtiy professors--what do they know?

Although I dislike the creationist and ID attempts to insert themselves into science classes, or alternatively to have state-sponsered disclaimers about the material, I wonder somewhat about teaching evolution in high school. I mean evolution is a broad topic that, I think, needs to be taught in a careful and methodical manner in order to even be understood properly. I wonder if that can be accomplished in one--or even a few--50 min high school lectures.

On the other hand, high school should prepare students for college where they will most likely take at least one biology course. It should also help students to be able to discuss issues in society with some intelligence.

Anyway, the rest of the article is worth reading.