The relevance of God to biological evolution: perceptions of Biology teachers in three Latin American countries

Abstract:

Because of the constant changes in the religious landscape of Latin America, teaching evolution has become a contentious issue. This study examines teachers’ perspectives on evolution in three Latin American countries with varying degrees of secularism: Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. The importance of God in the evolution of species was analyzed using the responses to question B.48 of the Biohead-Citizen questionnaire. Despite their religious beliefs, Argentinian and Uruguayan teachers did not consider God’s role in evolution. In contrast, many Brazilian teachers attempted to integrate science and religion in the context of evolution, believing that God was essential to the evolutionary process. Semi-structured interviews and other questionnaire responses supported these findings.

Keywords:
Biology teaching; Evolution of species; Religion and education; Latin America