ABSTRACT
The basic question that is raised by the chapters by Wertsch and Toma (chap. 10) and Bauersfeld (chap. 09) is, “How compatible are the theories of radical constructivism, sociocultural approaches, and social constructivism?” The authors imply that the three theoretical positions can be made compatible, but, to my knowledge, an explicit discussion of whether and how this might be accomplished has yet to be offered. In this chapter, I question whether, as indicated by Wertsch (1985b), the Vygotskian program can be simply modified to accommodate a Piagetian perspective. Then, drawing on the classroom examples provided by Bauersfeld, and Wertsch and Toma, I suggest that an integrated theory is desirable, but difficult to achieve. I discuss some points of contact and conflict between the theories, and then offer a set of assumptions for an integrating theory.
