Dialogues between science and religion: the theme through the perspective of teachers in training

Abstract

Over the centuries, science and religion have taken facets that cross and pull away in tortous paths, according to philosophical conceptions, economic influences, as well as political and social contexts. This research investigates the notions harbored by undergraduates of different teachertraining courses on the relation between science and religion and what they make of it in a classroom context. The aim is to identify and analyze the views of new-entrant and exiting students enrolled in all of the teachertraining courses in the Uberaba’s campus of the Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro (UFTM), Minas Gerais, Brazil. Also figuring in the research is the dialogue with the coordinators of each of the implicated courses, which aims to present the data analyzed and to get a feedback from it. The chosen research methodology was the qualitative and quantitative; it was also applied questionnaires to students and semi-structured interviews to course coordinators. Among the results, it stands out that, in some courses (and areas), there is a significant variation in the students' conceptions on how science and religion should be approached in the classroom. Thus, it is also evident that among exiting students there is a higher tendency for a dialogue between science and religion.