AN EXAMINATION OF BIOLOGY TEACHERS' INTENTION TO TEACH EVOLUTION BASED ON THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR

Biology teachers' intention to teach evolution as well as factors influential in their intention are studied in this research through semi-structured interviews with 25 Turkish and 12 German biology teachers. The interview forms were designed based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour developed by Ajzen (2005) so as to account for behaviours. The data were analysed through the method of qualitative content anaysis. Consequently, it was found that Turkish and German biology teachers' intentions and factors affecting their intentions varied, which thought to have stemmed from their societies' cultural and religious values. It was also found that 20 of the Turkish teachers and all of the German ones had positive attitudes towards the teaching of evolution, and that they had intention to teach the topic. The remaining 5 of the Turkish teachers did not intend to teach the topic. While 18 Turkish teachers thought that society in general did not wish the topic to be taught, German teachers stated that it was a mission to teach the topic which they were charged with. All of the German teachers had highly perceived behavioural control whereas 3 of the Turkish teachers pointed out that the current circumstances were not appropriate for the teaching of the topic.