Teachers’ Views on Evolution: Religion Matters in South Korea

This work is the first extension in East Asia of the international research started with the Biohead-Citizen project on the analysis of teachers’ conceptions of evolution. It presents the first results related to Buddhist teachers. The questionnaire, built and validated by the Biohead-Citizen project, and including 15 questions related to evolution, has been filled out in South Korea by 306 teachers (Primary Schools, Secondary Schools teaching Biology or the Korean Language). The results show that a majority of teachers are clearly evolutionist, including the Buddhist teachers who do not differ from their Agnostic or Atheist colleagues. Nevertheless, most of the Protestant teachers are radical creationist: their answers significantly differ from those of their colleagues. These results show a clear country effect, South Korea being economically developed, with 41% of teachers being Agnostic or Atheist, and clearly evolutionist, as are also their Buddhist or Catholic colleagues. Nevertheless there is also a religion effect, the Protestant teachers being fundamentalist and having radical creationist positions, that are also described in other countries where Protestant are fundamentalist, but not in European countries where Protestant are Calvinist or Lutheran.