Genetic constructivism and its allies
Online First
In the context of curriculum reforms in the Czech Republic, genetic constructivism appears to be a marginal initiative of a group of enthusiasts. The aim
of the present paper is to show that such an impression is inaccurate and arises due to the historically created limitation of the horizon on which genetic constructivism
is considered. When we look at curriculum reforms in the broader context of reforms in mathematics education in Western Europe and the USA over the last fifty years, we find that genetic constructivism is in line with the mainstream of these reforms and in some areas may offer solutions to problems that reform efforts in the West have struggled with to no avail. Similarly, when we situate genetic constructivism within the broader theoretical framework of cognitive science, we find that it is consistent with the current trends in the field. The aim of the present paper is to outline the context within which genetic constructivism can be seen as a part of mainstream reform efforts in the didactics of mathematics. We believe that placing genetic constructivism in this broader context will help to overcome the animosity with which it is confronted in some quarters.
didactics of mathematics; genetic constructivism; New Math; cognitive science
Bachratý, H., et. al. (Eds.). (2012). Archív Víta Hejného I. EDIS.
Ernest, P. (1997). Social constructivism as a philosophy of mathematics. SUNY Press.
Fodor, J. (1983). The modularity of mind: An essay on faculty psychology. The MIT Press.
Furinghetti, F., & Menghini, M. (2023). The Royaumont Semionar as a booster of communication
and internationalization in the world of mathematics education. In D. De Bock (Ed.),
Modern mathematics: An international movement? (s. 55–78). Springer.
Gillies, D. (1992). Revolutions in mathematics. Clarendon Press.
Hejný, M. (2014). Vyučování matematice orientované na budování schémat: aritmetika 1. stupně.
Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta.
Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. The MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. (1980a). Rules and representations. Columbia University Press.
Chomsky, N. (1980b). Rules and representations. The behavioral and brain sciences, 3, 1–61.
Kvasz, L. (2016). Princípy genetického konštruktivizmu. Orbis Scholae, 10(2), 15–45.
Latterell, C. (2005). Math wars, A guide for parents and teachers. Praeger Publishers.
Ma, L. (1999). Knowing and teaching elementary mathematics. Lawrence Erlbum Associates.
Český preklad J. Rákosník: Znát a učit elementární matematiku. Academia, 2021.
Piaget, J., Beth, E. W., Dieudonné, J., Lichnerowicz, A., Choquet, G., & Gattegno, C. (1955).
L’enseignement des mathématiques. Delachaux et Niestlé.
Průcha, J. (2009). Kompetence / klíčové kompetence ve školním vzdělávání. In J. Průcha (Ed.),
Pedagogická encyklopedie (s. 242–246). Portál.
Rendl, M. (2008). O konstruktivismu ve vyučování matematiky. Pedagogika 58(2), 167–203.
Rendl, M., & Štech, S. (2012). Should learning (mathematics) at school aim at knowledge or at
competences?. Orbis Scholae, 6(2), 23–39.
Rendl, M., Vondrová, N., et al. (2013). Kritická místa matematiky na základní škole očima učitelů.
Univerzita Karlova, Pedagogická fakulta.
Šedivý, J. (1969). O modernizaci školské matematiky. Státní pedagogické nakladatelství.
Versace, S. (2023). Chomsky. Jazyk, znalosti a svoboda. Emse Publishing.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright © 2025 Ladislav Kvasz