BACKGROUND: It has long been acknowledged that evolution is a difficult topic for many students, partly because of the conceptual demands it makes, and partly because for some students an acceptance of evolution conflicts with their religious beliefs. The study we report on here was designed to see if there were additional reasons why evolution might be a difficult topic for certain students.
RESULTS: Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with seventeen adults studying for education qualifications, we show that evolution is a difficult topic for certain people because it can give rise to existential concerns. Thematic content analysis of interview transcripts revealed six themes associated with existential concerns: time, identity, death, responsibility/freedom, meaninglessness, and isolation. Analysis revealed that the topic of evolution frequently gave rise to feelings of disquiet.
CONCLUSIONS:
Because it concerns issues to do with death, extinction and change, evolution can be deeply unsettling for many people, even if they may have difficulty articulating why this is so. Teachers when they teach evolution therefore need to consider at least three overlapping constituencies who may find evolution difficult: those for whom it is cognitively challenging; those who reject aspects of evolution on religious grounds; and those who are uncomfortable with evolution for existential reasons. Teacher educators need to decide how best to prepare new teachers for these challenges. We argue that a pedagogy based on two approaches—treating evolution as a conceptually demanding topic and treating it as a sensitive issue—may provide a way forward
