The evolutionary foundations of John Dewey's concept of growth and its meaning for his educational theory

John Dewey’s significant contribution to the development of an anti-deterministic, non-dualistic adoption of evolutionary theory in his educational theory has been largely neglected. This paper makes explicit how Dewey’s concept of growth – a concept that forms the basis of his notion of education – in particular has been informed by Darwinian evolutionary theory, specifically, by the concept of natural selection. In this way,the paper aims to enhance our understanding of Dewey’s education theory in general and at the same time offer a new perspective on current learning environments following an economic, output oriented logic, and genuinely educative experiences in the sense of Dewey.