Candace Stanley
EDU 3182
12/12/13
Dr. Russback
What are Origins?
Creationism is based on the belief in God and the Bible.
Many people believe that God created heaven and earth in seven days. These people are called creationists. This belief derives from the Bible; a book written thousands of years ago by God’s chosen people. Generation after generation have read and studied God’s word for guidance throughout their life.
Evolution is based upon scientific theories.
In the 1800’s Charles Darwin coined the term evolution. This theory focuses on relationships between animals and humans. Darwin believed that humans slowly developed from monkeys over many years. He also determined that all species are related because everything stems from one descendent. People, who believe in evolution, believe that it is impossible for there to be a God.
Origins in the Classroom
Origins create challenges for teachers.
When employed by a public school system, teachers are faced with challenging situations when it comes to personal beliefs. By law, teachers can not teach students about God or the Bible, but many times they are required to teach about evolution. This can be a huge struggle for teachers who are creationists.
My beliefs concerning origins are simple.
I believe that teachers do not have to compromise their beliefs about the Lord to teach evolution. When faced with the challenge of teaching about the topic of evolution,
I will focus on teaching the subject as a theory rather than a fact. This will allow the students to learn the required content, but only as the belief by some people.
These are my world views.
My world views are that God created the heaven and earth in seven days. The Bible is the true word of the Lord, and Jesus is my savior. I was born and raised in a Baptist church as a Christian. I am saddened by the evolutionist’s theories. The thought of living a meaningless life is very scary for me to think about. There is no explanation that makes sense other than creationism.
Icons and Issues of Creationism vs. Evolution
Is carbon dating reliable?
Willard Frank Libby, an evolutionist stated that carbon dating is quite consistent with an error margin of only forty years. ( ) Once a specimen dies, the carbon found within it will slowly diminish. Scientists determine how much carbon is still remaining in the fossil to decipher the age. Many fossils have been dated based upon carbon found within them, but it has been challenged due to its reliability. Carbon dating is very unstable according to ISR. There are many fossils that have been determined to have two dates. When tested in more than one area, the findings were thousands of years apart. (Charles Jackson) It has been proven that helium dating is far more accurate. With that being said, most fossils dated using helium, date back no further than 5,730 years ago. (ISR) This revolution would be consistent with the Bible, stating that the world is only around 6,000 years old.
Darwin admitted that he was wrong.
Charles Darwin studied evolution for over twenty years and published a book stating that Homo sapiens were formed from animals. He believed that this process took place to help them survive in their environments. ( ) In fact, Darwin’s research determined many different theories when it came to the creation of humans. When reviewing this theory, it can be detected that he rearranged the order of evolution. Most textbooks do not show dates in which the evolving took place. When you view the dates, it indicates a scenario similar to saying that a person grandson is older than their grandfather. (Jackson) This discrepancy is not noted in most educational learning materials.
Towards the end of Darwin’s life, he stated that there did in fact have to be more to this theory. Scientists today are trying to cover this information up by sugar coating his words. This leads to the fact that the scientists still have not found the key missing link to the human kind. There have been many claims on finding this link, but none have been proven.
Darwin sketched the tree of life.
The “tree of life” is an icon created by Charles Darwin. During his research, he indicated that every species on earth was related to one another with a common ancestor. ( ) He explained this theory with a sketch of a tree like form. Recent research has indicated that this theory does not quite fit the data findings found today. ( ) Evolutionist’s have determined now that humans derived from a single cell organism. ( ) In a film titled Expelled, one scientist stated that a plausible location would be at the bottom of a crystal. Another evolutionist stated that he did not know where the single cell organism came from, but it was definitely not created by God.
Conclusion
How I plan to avoid expressing my personal beliefs.
I believe that it is important for teachers to avoid expressing their personal origin beliefs in their classroom. This does not mean that I will not be true to whom I am, it only means that I will address my class as a professional. As a teacher, you are required to by law to separate the church and the school. This will be a struggle at times, especially when students ask questions about God or the Bible. When faced with these situations, I will simply explain that school is not the appropriate place to talk about those things. I will however pray at school; if I feel that my students need to be prayed for or their family. This will be done silently and unknowingly as my students are focused on their studies or outside the classroom.
I will address origins in my classroom when required.
When faced with teaching the difficult subject of evolution, I will focus on theories. I will introduce the topic as beliefs by some people. I will stay professional while I teach the content areas, explaining how Charles Darwin discovered the theories. I will however show the students the timeline with dates, instead of relying solely on the textbook.
I will be the kind of teacher who meets MoSPE Goal 10.
I will meet MoSPE Goal 10; the teacher will understand the role a Christian teacher plays in promoting the success of all students by acting with integrity, fairness, and compassion to those they teach. As a teacher, Ibelieve that my behavior should always be ethical. My desire is to be a role model for my students. There are going to be many students enter my classroom lacking moral guidance in their life, and my job is to fill this role.
I may not be able to share my beliefs with my students, but I will never compromise my values and my decision making will never be biased in the classroom. I will do my best to always treat each class member as an individual based on their educational, social, and cultural needs. I hope to maintain a caring community where everyone feels like family inside the classroom.