Environmental and sustainability education (ESE) consists of topical existential and ethical issues. At the same time, these issues are taught in a school setting that is shaped by assignments, grades, and school tasks. The relationships between structures of formal education in a school environment and the characteristics of ESE has been described in dichotomous terms as a contradiction, known in the ESE research field as "Stevenson's gap", after Robert B. Stevenson. The aim of this article is to overcome this dichotomous understanding of the relation between schooling and ESE by providing a pragmatist perspective. Drawing on John Dewey's notion of habit, two learning habits are outlined by which students encounter environmental and sustainability issues in the classroom: the "habit of schooling" and the "habit of inquiry." Empirical data from Swedish upper secondary schools is used to illustrate their meaning in classroom practice. Our pragmatist conceptualisation highlights how these habits are simultaneously present in the same classroom. A conclusion is that teaching and learning in ESE should not be reduced to either habit but that both can be valuable for a robust and vital ESE.