ABSTRACT
Since environmentalists emerged in the 1960s they have focused on education as being both a contributing factor to environmental problems and a possible solution to them: ‘The ecological crisis . . . is a crisis of education, not one in education’ (Orr 1996: 7). They have presented radical critiques of existing educational practices (Bowers 1993; 1995; 2001) as well as suggesting alternative approaches to ensuring that education produces environmentally responsible citizens. The argument I wish to present is that achieving environmental responsibility as an educational goal represents a retreat from education. It is important educators recognise this and, no matter how serious environmental problems are, and no matter what society deems to be an appropriate political response to these problems, educational principles should not be sacrificed in order to produce an environmentally aware populace.
