Participation, situated culture, and practical reason

Abstract

This chapter examines the emergence of participatory education as both a central feature and a terrain of ambivalence within the developing landscape of environmental education in South Africa. From its roots in nature experience activities through to more socially critical forms of environmental education, participatory imperatives in this area have yet to address sufficiently the conceptual and practical challenges inherent in pedagogies of participation. We argue that more recent developments reveal similar anomalies, such that participatory education in South Africa has now become an idealised and techniqued logic of practice. Keywords environmental education, participation, reflexivity, situated culture, social learning © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.