Dewey on the Concept of Education as Growth

Introduction

To be educated, especially in particular ways, such as for a vocation or citizenship, is often seen as the end of schooling, a terminus of classroom learning. Likewise, growth is often seen as having an end, as having some final point of termination, like reaching adulthood, or of achieving some aim, like mastering a skill. Intriguingly, Dewey disrupts these common understandings to suggest that growth itself is an end and education should be understood as growth.

Growth as an End

Most people understand ends to be fixed points that can be reached through an orderly progression with certainty and clarity. They have a specific mark in mind that they hold as a goal or see as an outcome of a process. For Dewey, however, trajectories tend to be more complicated and precarious. The complexities of life are such that marching toward a specific fixed end can be challenging and even achieving such an end unlikely, especially as one’s environment shifts and changes. Moreover, doing...