Draft national curriculum leaves creationism some wiggle room?

[brian]

The draft national curriculum does not prohibit the teaching of creationism in schools, raising questions about whether this will open the door to its promotion as a science in classrooms.

The NSW Board of Studies has explicitly ruled out the teaching of creation theory from the Bible as a science, however it allows the teaching of spiritual perspectives on creation in science classes, as long as they are not dressed up as scientific or used to substitute any curriculum content, such as the teaching of evolution.

Greens MP John Kaye said he did not oppose discussion of Aboriginal Dreamtime or Christian explanations of the world's origins in science classrooms, as long as they were presented as non-scientific beliefs.

However, while the NSW curriculum explicitly required schools to present and ''discuss evidence that present-day organisms have evolved from organisms in the distant past'' and to ''relate natural selection to the theory of evolution'', the draft national curriculum ''was remarkably silent on the connection between natural selection and the evolution of ancient species into modern forms''.

"[The state curriculum] leaves open no wriggle room to slip in religiously based views on the origin of species as science,'' Dr Kaye said.

"The draft national curriculum has left open loopholes that would allow the teaching of intelligent design and old earth creationism as science ...

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/creationism-could-slip-into-science-classes-20100303-pj4d.html