Perceptions of Science Education Among African American and White Evangelicals: A Texas Case Study

Evangelicals have been highlighted at the intersections of religion, science, and education, yet little is known about how evangelicals perceive public science education and how these perceptions compare across racial lines. Here we analyze how African American and white evangelicals view science ed...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of religious research
Authors: Korver-Glenn, Elizabeth (Author) ; Chan, Esther (Author) ; Ecklund, Elaine Howard 1973- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer [2015]
In: Review of religious research
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Texas / Evangelical movement / Race / Public school / Natural sciences
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
CF Christianity and Science
KBQ North America
KDG Free church
ZF Education
Further subjects:B Education
B Race
B Science
B Evangelicals
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Description
Summary:Evangelicals have been highlighted at the intersections of religion, science, and education, yet little is known about how evangelicals perceive public science education and how these perceptions compare across racial lines. Here we analyze how African American and white evangelicals view science education through 40 in-depth interviews collected from two evangelical congregations in Texas. Without raising the topic of evolution, we find that African American leaders, white leaders, and white laity engaged in faith-based, evolution-contesting discourse, but African American laity rarely framed science education in faith-based ways. For them, science education was often linked to educational resources or was distant from their lived experiences. Our findings clarify disjuncture and overlap among African American and white evangelicals by exploring perceptions that challenge and affirm the public institution of science education in different ways. Our conclusion stresses the need to examine perceptions of science and education among religious subgroups differentiated along social and historical lines.
ISSN:2211-4866
Contains:Enthalten in: Review of religious research
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s13644-014-0194-x