Kurzinfo:
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Introduction
As a researcher I have a keen interest in the topic of ′doing research′ and find myself frequently addressing my own questions of what it means to ′do research′. As a reviewer of papers submitted to journals in this field I also have a critical interest in how others ′do research′ and how collections of research contribute to the field. And as an environmental educator I want to know how research in environmental education will move the field forward. Environmental education is an important strategy in addressing environmental problems faced by communities around the world. Therefore, I am particularly keen to know how the act of ′doing research′ will advance the field of environmental education and as such contribute to the solution of broader environmental problems.
Clearly I bring with me my own education history, experiences, value positions, cultural understandings, and theoretical and methodological preferences. How then can I sensibly make sense of and critique research which is cross-cultural, theoretically and methodologically diverse, and which covers a broad spectrum of topics?
It is with these questions in mind that I discuss four papers which have appeared in Environmental Education Research (EER). Principally, I focus on two papers: these are Chawla, ′Research methods to investigate SLE: review and recommendations′ (Volume 4, 1998), and Malone, ′Environmental education researchers as activists′ (Volume 5, 1999). I also consider Doyle and Krasny (2003) and Fortner et al. (2000). Together, the papers offer the opportunity to discuss issues of learning from critique (both external evaluation and internal self-evaluation) and the need for openness in the research community to different ways of doing research.
I also raise the issue of the importance of embracing novice researchers, encouraging their efforts, and being receptive to their thinking. I conclude by introducing the notion of touchstone theory and how that theory may help move the field of environmental education research forward.
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↑ http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13504620600799125