The Quest for Holism in Education for Sustainable Development

Abstract 'Sustainable development' is a 'paradoxical compound policy slogan' (Stables, 1996), of a type rhetorically constructed to appeal simultaneously to apparently opposed interest groups, and is widely recognised to be a contested notion. Indeed, structuralist and post-structuralist theories hold that no terms can have uncontested, stable meanings--even 'education'. Notwithstanding, environmental education (EE) has often been associated with a quest for a holistic worldview. This is despite the fact that the monological view of truth implied in such a quest, assuming absolute understanding (and thus enabling total control over nature), has been cited as contributing to the development of the ecological crisis. 'Sustainable development' can, however, remain a regulative ideal for environmental educators, as long as it is acknowledged that it has no absolute legitimation. Human reflexivity remains capable of reworking the cultural traditions which have shaped late modernity with reference to such a regulative ideal, albeit variously recognised. The quest for holism remains one voice in a continuing dialogue, or series of simultaneous and sometimes overlapping dialogues, about the environment and the human relationship with it.