2006 saw a series of events in which the teaching of Creationism and Intelligent Design in the science classroom were hotly debated.

In March, following the announcement that from September 2006, (young earth) Creationist theories were to be discussed in the new GCSE OCR Biology syllabus, Archbishop Rowan Williams told the Guardian that Creationism, as a scientific theory at loggerheads with Darwinism, should not be taught in schools. He felt, however, that Creationism should be discussed.

In September, Truth in Science sent packs on Intelligent Design to UK secondary schools. Richard Buggs of TiS has told CiS that, contrary to media reports, these packs do not mention Creationism, but inform discussion of Darwinism as a scientific theory, in accordance with the national curriculum requirement to teach "how scientific controversies can result from different ways of interpreting empirical data".

Denis Alexander, Director of the Faraday Institute, however, told a recent conference that both ID and atheist claims about the implications of evolution theory should be taught in philosophy and religious education classes rather than science lessons since the question of God's existence cannot be answered simply by scientific method.

Underlying the 2006 debate has been public confusion about the meaning of 'Creationism' and 'Intelligent Design', differing understandings of the term 'Darwinism' and of the nature of scientific and theological method. Addressing these misunderstandings in 2007 would do a lot to clarify public discussion.

Alan Roberts, Postdoctoral Researcher, Geophysics, Cambridge University