Engaging Tension in the Science and Religion Classroom

Bryan Clarke graduated in 1994 with Bachelor of Education and Kinesiology degrees and has been involved in teaching separately science and religion courses and also as a chaplain, conversing with students about these subjects. He began teaching junior high school where he first encountered a deep curiosity in the students for issues relating to science and religion. Informally, Clarke found student excitement generated a barrage of questions, but formal teaching generated only ambivalence or apathy from students. Over time, Clarke noticed situations where student curiosity was peaked – during discussions about origins, creation, and evolution. These discussions motivated him to pursue his own questions about creation and evolution bringing together his interests in science and in religion. At the University of Alberta, Clarke was privileged to research within a science and religion classroom under the tutelage of Dr. Jim Parsons and Dr. Denis Lamoureux. Their guidance shaped this work, displaying Clarke''s journey as a teacher through the maze of challenging questions that students encounter on their quest to understand who they are.