On Learners and Learning in Environmental Education: Missing Theories, Ignored Communities

Mark Rickinson’s review of empirical studies of learners and learning in school environmental education, which constitutes issue 7(3) of Environmental Education Research (Rickinson, 2001), ‘focuses specifi cally on the nature and quality of the evidence generated by the work in this area’ (p. 207, emphasis in original). Rickinson argues that this approach was chosen because of the tendency for ‘previous reviews to focus on methodological trends more than research fi ndings’ (p. 207). In effect, Rickinson’s point is that previous reviews (e.g. Hart & Nolan, 1999) have focused on epistemological issues whereas his own review concentrates on ontological ones.