Schooling and ESE : revisiting Stevenson’s gap from a pragmatist perspective

Environmental and sustainability education (ESE) consists of topical existentialand ethical issues. At the same time, these issues are taught ina school setting that is shaped by assignments, grades, and school tasks.The relationships between structures of formal education in a schoolenvironment and the characteristics of ESE has been described in dichotomousterms as a contradiction, known in the ESE research field as“Stevenson’s gap”, after Robert B. Stevenson. The aim of this article is toovercome this dichotomous understanding of the relation betweenschooling and ESE by providing a pragmatist perspective. Drawing onJohn Dewey’s notion of habit, two learning habits are outlined by whichstudents encounter environmental and sustainability issues in the classroom:the habit of schooling and the habit of inquiry. Empirical data fromSwedish upper secondary schools is used to illustrate their meaning inclassroom practice. Our pragmatist conceptualisation highlights howthese habits are simultaneously present in the same classroom. A conclusionis that teaching and learning in ESE should not be reduced toeither habit but that both can be valuable for a robust and vital ESE.
Teaching global equity and justice issues through a critical lens