Does the National Curriculum allow teaching of alternatives to Darwinian Evolution?

Science National Curriculum

Sc1 Scientific enquiry

Ideas and evidence in science

Key Stage 3

1. Pupils should be taught:
   1. about the interplay between empirical questions, evidence and scientific explanations using historical and contemporary examples [for example, Lavoisier’s work on burning, the possible causes of global warming]
   2. that it is important to test explanations by using them to make predictions and by seeing if evidence matches the predictions
   3. about the ways in which scientists work today and how they worked in the past, including the roles of experimentation, evidence and creative thought in the development of scientific ideas.

Key Stage 4

1. Pupils should be taught:
1. how scientific ideas are presented, evaluated and disseminated [for example, by publication, review by other scientists]
2. how scientific controversies can arise from different ways of interpreting empirical evidence [for example, Darwin's theory of evolution]
3. ways in which scientific work may be affected by the contexts in which it takes place [for example, social, historical, moral and spiritual] , and how these contexts may affect whether or not ideas are accepted
4. to consider the power and limitations of science in addressing industrial, social and environmental questions, including the kinds of questions science can and cannot answer, uncertainties in scientific knowledge, and the ethical issues involved.

(emphasis added)

Pupils should be taught:

• h.    that the fossil record is evidence for evolution
• i.     how variation and selection may lead to evolution or to extinction

Promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through science

For example, science provides opportunities to promote:

• spiritual development, through pupils sensing the natural, material, physical world they live in, reflecting on their part in it, and exploring questions such as when does life start and where does life come from?
• moral development, through helping pupils see the need to draw conclusions using observation and evidence rather than preconception or prejudice, and through discussion of the implications of the uses of scientific knowledge, including the recognition that such uses can have both beneficial and harmful effects
• social development, through helping pupils recognise how the formation of opinion and the justification of decisions can be informed by experimental evidence, and drawing attention to how different interpretations of scientific evidence can be used in discussing social issues
• cultural development, through helping pupils recognise how scientific discoveries and ideas have affected the way people think, feel, create, behave and live, and drawing attention to how cultural differences can influence the extent to which scientific ideas are accepted, used and valued.