ABSTRACT
The chapters in this section—one on information processing by Spiro and his colleagues (chap. 6) and one on second-order cybernetics by Steier (chap. 5)—demonstrate strikingly different assumptions and approaches to learning, knowledge, and research. Theoretically, Spiro's work reflects what Steier refers to as naive constructivism, whereas Steier tries to offer examples of ecological constructionism. Spiro addresses teaching situations, whereas Steier addresses research situations. The style of writing also differs sharply. Spiro is quite rigorous and narrow in focus, whereas Steier is conversational and broad in scope. With such contrasting differences, I found that I was “stretching it” to make many direct comparisons. I eventually decided to discuss each chapter separately, with occasional references to the other as I proceed. Because Steier attends to a much larger context, within which the more differentiated Spiro chapter may be located, I discuss the Steier chapter first.
