'Environment as text': Initial insights into some implications for professional development in environmental education

This paper describes part of a current international research capacity-building project in South Africa. In the project a research-based approach to professional development is adopted, one in which participants develop detailed case studies relating to their own changing practices in environmental education. It is argued that such an approach is consistent with the highly contextual nature of the field of environmental education. The article describes a central three-day 'moment' in the project, drawing on this experience to consider a number of issues concerning participatory research and the role of case study in professional development.