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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to understand teachers experiences and beliefs of the teaching of evolution within the context of public schooling in Georgia. In support of the purpose of this study, I devised the following research questions: (1) How do teachers describe their preparation for teaching evolution? (2) How do teachers describe their teaching of evolution in secondary school? (3) How do teachers describe the institutional and sociocultural influences that affect teachers decisions about what and how to teach evolution? Primary data sources were teacher interviews. A purposive sample of secondary biology teachers was recruited. Teacher/participants were recruited from six public school systems in a large metropolitan center in Georgia. Fifteen teachers were interviewed, nine high school teachers and five middle school teachers. These teachers represented eleven schools, and five of the six targeted school systems. The theoretical frameworks that guided this study were interpretivism (Crotty, 1998) and worldview theory (Sire, 2004). Data were coded and analyzed resulting in themes, which provided insight into teachers preparation for teaching evolution, teachers pedagogical decisions about how to teach evolution, and institutional and sociocultural influences on those decisions. Findings included: (1) All teachers in this study were familiar with Georgia evolution standards and their responsibility to teach them. (2) Georgia biology teachers personal/religious views on evolution vary, and the ways in which those views manifest themselves in teaching evolution vary. Some of the findings from this study match those from studies of teachers in other parts of the United States, while others do not. Among findings that do not match other studies are: (1) Teachers in this study were well prepared with respect to evolution content and pedagogy. (2) Teachers were familiar with content standards on evolution and their responsibility to teach them. (3) Standardized testing was not a significant stressor compared to sociocultural factors such as perceived adverse community viewpoints.