COGNITIVE DISSONANCE OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

• Main Author: Malloy, Robert Earl
• Other Authors: Mark Bloom
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: Texas Christian University 2011
• Subjects: School of Education
• Online Access: http://etd.tcu.edu/etdfiles/available/etd-04122011-160146/

Throughout history science and religion have been in conflict. Many of the theories of science do not agree with the religious beliefs of pre-service teachers. Those teachers who will be teaching in the science classroom, must be able to present science without prejudice of personal religious beliefs. Are pre-service teachers prepared for science/religion conflicts? How much conflict do pre-service teachers have between science and religion? This study suggests that pre-service teachers may have a high degree of conflict between science and religion, and that they have received no educational experience on how to deal with this conflict. Such conflict poses a potential problem when presenting science in the classroom, in that non-science information may not be separated from the science presented.