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Without The Light Of Evolution: A Case Study Of Resistance And Avoidance In Learning To Teach High School Biology, Douglas B. Larkin, Gail M. Perry-Ryder
Without The Light Of Evolution: A Case Study Of Resistance And Avoidance In Learning To Teach High School Biology, Douglas B. Larkin, Gail M. Perry-Ryder
Douglas B. Larkin
In this article we present the case of Michael, a prospective high school biology teacher, in order to explore the implications of teacher resistance and avoidance to the topic of evolution. This case is drawn from a year-long qualitative research study that examined Michael’s process of learning to teach high school biology, and describes how his avoidance of evolution in his own education led to further disengagement with evolution in his methods coursework and in his student teaching practice. Paradoxically, his high academic abilities obscured substantive knowledge gaps about evolution, and his content knowledge regarding evolution did not appear to …