Evolution Education in the Arab States: Context, History, Stakeholders’ Positions and Future Prospects

While evolution education does not present itself as a public issue in the Arab states, it is seemingly controversial in education circles in general and science education more specifically, because of the perception that it is anti-religion. Within this context, the purpose of the chapter is to analyze the current status of evolution education in the Arab states and discuss possible ways of addressing the controversy within the educational system. The chapter begins by examining the relationship between Islam and science as a background for the potential effect of this relationship on positions regarding evolution and evolution education in the Arab states in which Islam predominates. This is followed by reviewing research that has investigated the status of evolution in science curricula at the school and university levels and in teacher preparation programs in Arab states. Then, we review research that has investigated the positions of high school and college students, biology teachers, and biology university faculty members toward evolution and evolution education and the relationships of these positions with religious affiliation and religiosity in the multi-religious context of a number of Arab states. The chapter concludes by discussing the possibility of including the teaching of evolution in the science curriculum while taking into consideration the contextual factors and the experiences of Islamic countries such as Iran in teaching evolution at the pre-college level.