Tinkering (with) bricolage. Reconstruction of selected philosophical and methodological assumptions of Joe L. Kincheloe’s concept

The bricolage as philosophical inquiry is a critical-constructivist research perspective proposed by Joe L. Kincheloe. It’s practical implementation assumes the use of various philosophical tools to help clarify the process of inquiry and provide insight into the assumptions on which it conceptually rests (Kincheloe, 2008). The considerations undertaken in this article are aimed at the characteristic of the philosophical and methodological assumptions that co-create it. Their reflective reception determines the possibility of a reliable use of the bricolage in the practice of academic research. The undertaken reconstruction was directed by the following research question: What epistemological – ontological – methodological preconditions make up the practice of research using the bricolage, in line with Kincheloe’s concept? Its material basis was the collection of books and articles listed in the bibliography. A detailed, though certainly not exhaustive answer to the research problem posed is presented in three thematically separated parts of the article. In chapters one and two, I describe the epistemology and ontology of complexity. In chapter three, I draw attention to an active view of research methodology. The contents presented in the article, although thematically arranged, intertwine, leading to the representation of selected aspects of the bricolage.