The emergence of the controversy around the theory of evolution and creationism in UK newspaper reports

Holliman, Richard and Allgaier, Joachim (2006). The emergence of the controversy around the theory of evolution and creationism in UK newspaper reports. Curriculum Journal, 17(3), pp. 263–279.

DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link:	http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1080/09585170600909738
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Abstract

The question of whether religious explanations about the origin of life should be taught alongside scientific accounts in compulsory science education has sparked controversy in several countries for decades. An important site for these controversies is media reporting. This paper presents the results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of UK national and regional newspaper coverage from 2002. The sampled articles reported the controversy about teaching creationism in science classes alongside the theory of evolution at Emmanuel College, Gateshead, UK. The results describe how the National Curriculum for Science was represented in these articles, in particular how scientific controversies were initially described and revised as the public debate developed. Furthermore, the article documents the mobilisation of a range of actors who used media reporting as an important channel to argue their case about this issue. It is argued that media reporting of creationism/evolution was an important factor in framing public debate about these issues, influencing, in part, the debate over which controversial science-based topics should be taught as part of the National Curriculum for Science.

Item Type:	Journal Article
ISSN:	0958-5176
Keywords:	controversy; creationism/evolution; newspaper coverage; national curriculum for science; content analysis
Academic Unit/Department:	Science Institute of Educational Technology
Interdisciplinary Research Centre:	Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology (CREET)
Item ID:	7599
Depositing User:	Richard Holliman
Date Deposited:	02 May 2007
Last Modified:	02 Dec 2010 19:59
URI:	http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/7599

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