Bricolage and postformalism

In our ongoing discussion of Varela at IPS I found this interesting article by Joe L. Kincheloe (short biography below*) called "Beyond Reductionism: Difference, Criticality, and Multilogicality in the Bricolage and Postformalism." Here are some excerpts:

"Postformalism operates to develop new ways of cultivating the intellect and defining intelligence, while concurrently working for social justice and a democratic redistribution of power. It takes its name from the effort to move beyond what Jean Piaget labeled, formal thinking" (2).


“The alternative cognitive practices that emerge in these diverse contexts are often grounded in cooperative interaction between and among diverse peoples. In this cooperative domain individuals are privy to the various forms of interrelatedness.... The concept of interconnection...moves postformalists to bring Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela's cognitive theory of enactivism into the bricolage” (13).

* From wikipedia:

Joe Lyons Kincheloe, (December 14, 1950 – December 19, 2008), was a professor and Canada Research Chair at the Faculty of Education, McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He wrote more than 45 books, numerous book-chapters, and hundreds of journal articles on issues including critical pedagogy, educational research, urban studies, cognition, curriculum, and cultural studies. Kincheloe received three graduate degrees from the University of Tennessee.