ABSTRACT
We hope that it is clear by now that the series of perspectives on higher education DQGVXVWDLQDEOHGHYHORSPHQWWKDWZH¿UVWLGHQWL¿HGLQ&KDSWHUDUHDOWHUQDWLYHV only to the extent that particular individuals, at particular times and places, are likely to adopt one rather than another. In fact, each of these perspectives reveals some things even as it obscures others. A way of thinking about this, which we have presented in greater detail elsewhere (Gough and Scott 2006), is to think of ‘higher education and sustainable development’ as an irregular-shaped object that has been placed at the centre of a large, dark space. To describe this object in GHWDLOLVSRVVLEOHLQSULQFLSOH,WGRHVKDYH¿QLWHPHDVXUDEOHIHDWXUHVDQGWKHVH are related to each other in ways that could be described according to rules – if only the rules were fully known. However, they are not fully known and, to pursue the metaphor, the only equipment we have available to begin our observations is a pencil-beam torch. Shining the torch onto the object from any one vantage point reveals only small amounts of information, which, nevertheless, are valid. By standing at a series of different points we may begin to build a picture of sorts, probably experiencing a process of error and correction as we do.
