The economic crisis which swept Asia prompted a major reappraisal the old system of government and business alliances, as well as public management of risks. In Korea, this meant a shift in the development paradigm.
In a controversial move, South Korea's government has asked textbook publishers not to comply with calls to remove examples of evolution in science books for high school students. This includes evidence for the evolution of horses and the bird an ancestor Archaeopteryx.
1. Evolution and Religion
A South Korean creationist group has convinced textbook publishers to eliminate evidence of evolution from high school science texts. The Society for Textbook Revise, an independent offshoot from the Korea Association for Creation Research that wants to rid biology textbooks of "atheist materialism," was behind the move. The STR asserts that such materialism creates negative images to students, causing them to abandon their faith.
When the STR's ad campaign made the news, scientists from all over the world reacted with concern. Jae Choe, an evolutionary biologist at Ewha Womans University, Seoul and wrote an open letter to Nature's editor that South Korea had succumbed to religious prejudice. His colleagues backed him from around the country who gathered into a group named Evolution Korea to organize an anti-textbook petition.
Some researchers are concerned that the STR could be spread to other regions of the world, where creationism has been growing. The letter to Nature warned of the anti-evolution campaign increasing pressure on textbook revisions, especially in countries with large Christian and Muslim populations.
The South Korean culture is especially strong in the debate over evolution. 26 percent of South Koreans are members of a religion and the majority of them practice Christianity or Buddhism. Many Koreans also adhere to Ch'ondogyo, an ideology based on Confucian principles that is a strong advocate of social harmony, individual self-cultivation, and self-respect. Ch'ondogyo teaches that human beings are in a relationship with Hanulnim, the God of the Sun, and that the heavenly blessings can be derived through the good deeds of a person.
All of this has made creationism fertile ground. Numerous studies have revealed that students with a religious background to be more reluctant to learn about evolution than those who do not. The causes behind this are not evident. Students who have a religious background may be less experienced with the theories of science, making them more susceptible to the creationists and their influence. Another possibility is that students who have religious beliefs are more likely to see evolution as an atheistic concept and therefore less at ease with it.
2. Evolution and Science
In recent years scientists have been concerned about the anti-evolution agenda in schools. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that more than 40% of Americans believe that biological evolution is not true, and that a belief in it would conflict with their convictions about religion. Despite the fact that creationism has been a huge success in some states, a lot of scientists believe that the best way to combat this inclination is not to be actively involved in with it, but rather inform the public about the evidence that supports evolution.
Scientists are accountable to teach their students science that includes the theory of evolution. They should also inform the public about the science process and how knowledge is gathered and confirmed. They should also explain that theories of science are frequently challenged and reformulated. However, misconceptions about the nature of scientific research often create anti-evolution beliefs.
Some people confuse the word "theory" as a guess, or a guess. In science, however, the hypothesis is tested thoroughly and empirical evidence is used to prove it. A theory that is able to withstand repeated testing and observation becomes a scientific principle.
The debate on evolution theory is an excellent chance to discuss the importance of scientific method and its limits. It is important for people to understand that science cannot answer questions about the meaning or meaning of life, it only serves as a mechanism that allows living things to grow and change.
A well-rounded education must include exposure to all the major scientific fields, including evolutionary biology. This is crucial because a lot of jobs and decisions require that people know how science works.
The vast majority of scientists around the world believe that humans have evolved over time. A recent study that predicted adults' opinions of the consensus on this subject found that those with higher education levels and knowledge of science were more likely to believe there is a broad agreement between scientists regarding human evolution. People with a higher level of religious belief but less scientific knowledge tend to be more divided. It is critical that educators insist on understanding the general consensus on this issue to ensure that individuals have a solid basis for making informed decisions regarding their health care, energy usage and other policy issues.
3. Evolution and Culture
Cultural evolution is a cousin of the popular evolutionary theory. It examines how organisms like humans learn from one another. Researchers in this field employ explanation tools and models that are adapted from evolutionary theorists and go back to human prehistory to discover the earliest sources of culture.
This approach also acknowledges the difference between cultural and biological traits. While biological traits are generally inherited all at once (in sexual species, at fertilization) however, cultural traits can be acquired over a long period of time. The acquisition of one characteristic can affect the development and growth of another.
In Korea for instance, the adoption of Western fashion elements in the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century was the result of a complex series of events. One of the most important was the arrival in Korea of Japanese occupation forces who introduced Western hairstyles and clothes.
When Japan quit Korea in the 1930s, some of these trends began to reverse. By the end World War II, Korea was once more united and again under Choson dynasty rule.
Today, Korea is a vibrant political and economic power. Despite the current global financial crisis, the country's economy has been growing steadily over the past decade and is poised to maintain its steady growth in the future.
However, the current administration has many challenges to face. The government's inability to formulate a coherent plan to address the current economic crisis is among the biggest challenges. The crisis has revealed shortcomings in the policies of the country and its reliance on exports and foreign investment, which may not last.
The crisis has shaken the confidence of investors, the government has to review its economic strategy and look for alternatives to boost domestic demand. To ensure a stable financial climate, the government will have to overhaul its incentive and monitoring systems, as well as discipline and evolutionkr.kr monitoring. This chapter presents several scenarios for how the Korean economy might develop post-crisis.
4. Evolution and Education
The challenge for teachers of evolution lies in how to teach evolutionary concepts that are appropriate for different ages and stages of development. Teachers should, for instance, be sensitive to the diversity of religions within their classrooms and create a learning environment where students of both religious and secular perspectives feel comfortable. Additionally, teachers must understand common misconceptions about evolution, and how to address these in their classrooms. Finally, teachers must have access to a range of resources available for teaching evolution and be able to locate them quickly.
In this regard, the Thinking Evolutionarily Convocation was a crucial step in bringing evolutionary scientists and educators from a variety of fields to discuss most effective methods of teaching evolution. Participants included representatives from scientific societies and educational researchers, as well as government funding agency officials, and curriculum developers. The convergence of these diverse groups led to the identification of a common set of recommendations that will form the foundation for future actions.
One important recommendation is that the subject of evolution should be included in every science curriculum at every level. National Science Education Standards (NRC) which require the integration of evolution across all life sciences, with the developmentally appropriate, are a method to achieve this goal. A new publication from the NRC offers guidance for schools on how to integrate evolution into their life science curriculum.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that a more comprehensive explanation of evolution can lead to greater student understanding and belief in the concept of evolution. However, estimating causal effects in the classroom is a challenge due to the fact that school curriculums are not randomly assigned and evolve over time because of the predetermined timeframe of gubernatorial elections as well as appointments to the state board of education. To overcome this problem, I use a longitudinal data set which allows me to account for fixed state and year effects and individual-level variation in the beliefs of teachers about changes in the curriculum.
Another significant finding is that teachers who feel more comfortable teaching evolution report having less personal barriers to teaching it. This is in line with the notion that more confident faculty are less likely to avoid teaching about evolution in the classroom, and could be more likely to employ strategies like a reconciliatory method that is known to boost the students' understanding of evolution.
