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Online Course for Teachers: Teaching Evolution

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SESSION 8

SESSION 8: How Can You Deal with Controversy?

Facilitator Notes for SESSION 8

Engage Part B
Note 1: Conduct a discussion around participants' responses. You may need to remind participants about the ground rules for discussion that you established at the beginning of the course, such as being respectful even if you disagree. Discussion around this topic could become quite heated.

Explore Part A
Note 2: This could be a valuable discussion. You might ask participants to identify which religious leader they will interview ahead of time so that the religious leaders won't be interviewed more than once, and different denominations are represented. If participants are in the same community and want to interview the same person, they could arrange to do the interview together.

Explore Part B
Note 3: Personal beliefs around controversy might be difficult for some people to share online. Respect participants' need to be private or not to participate.

Explain Part C
Note 4: Encourage participants to research the laws supporting the teaching of evolution so that they will understand the legal aspects of the controversy in case it arises in their communities. Have them review the Web link for the latest legal challenges so that they understand that evolution controversy is ongoing.

Elaborate Part A
Note 5: This is an important place for a discussion. Compile participants' strategies and, with participants, identify the ones that have been most effective.

Evaluate Part A
Note 6: Discuss how other teachers have handled similar situations.

Evaluate Part B
Note 7: This is a common belief for some groups of creationists. Help participants practice how they would respond. This exercise could increase the comfort level of teachers when they teach evolution.

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