Primary school students’ perspectives on questions that bridge science and religion: findings from a survey study in England

Billingsley, Berry, Abedin, Manzoorul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6616-0953 and Nassaji, Mehdi (2020) Primary school students’ perspectives on questions that bridge science and religion: findings from a survey study in England. British Educational Research Journal, 46 (1). pp. 177-204. ISSN 0141-1926

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Abstract

This paper describes the development of a questionnaire to discover primary school students’ perceptions of science, religion and the relationships between them on a range of topics that are known as Big Questions. The questionnaire was administered in 16 primary schools in England with over 750 students aged 10-11. The findings indicate that students in this age group have begun to consider how science and religion relate and that while there is a diversity of positions, a significant proportion perceived science and religion to conflict. Analysis of responses also indicated that primary school students’ epistemic insight was limited in relation to their understanding of the nature of science and in particular, the idea that science has limitations. The basis and potential consequences of such views are considered and recommendations for teaching practice are presented together with ideas for future research. It is anticipated that the study will inform teachers and curriculum planners developing approaches and guidance materials in science and RE.

Item Type: Article
Identifier: 10.1002/berj.3574
Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Billingsley, B., Abedin, M. and Nassaji, M. (2020), Primary school students’ perspectives on questions that bridge science and religion: Findings from a survey study in England. Br Educ Res J, 46: 177-204. doi:10.1002/berj.3574], which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3574. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Keywords: primary science; science and religion; science classroom; student perceptions; nature of science; worldviews
Subjects: Education
Education > Teaching and learning
Depositing User: Manzoorul Abedin
Date Deposited: 19 May 2020 12:27
Last Modified: 06 Feb 2024 16:02
URI: https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/6979

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