Evolution and Educational Theory in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The standard histories of educational ideas have very little to say about Darwin.¹ Where he does receive a mention, it is almost invariably in the context of general observations about the conflict between science and religion in the mid-nineteenth century² or about the impact of scientific thinking on wider social fields, including education.³ At a slightly more practical level, a few commentators refer to Darwin in relation to arguments for the inclusion of science in the school curriculum and a corresponding diminution in the importance of classics.⁴ All this, however, is highly predictable. What is required is a sustained and systematic attempt to trace the influence of evolutionary thinking on the various fields which contributed to the shaping of educational theory and practice in the second half of the nineteenth century. This paper represents a first, tentative effort to map the territory. It will, inevitably, be a rough, working sketch rather than a finely-drawn piece of cartography, but it is hoped that others will be stimulated to refine and improve it.