Publication 1446

Learning and adaptation are conceptually distinct and refer to different processes. Both concepts are incorporated in Piaget’s genetic epistemology and in the more radical constructivist model of cognition that has sprung from it. Misinterpretation of the different roles the two terms play in that theoretical model is one of the reasons why the constructivist approach has often been misunderstood by educators. In this paper I shall lay out the use of the two terms in the constructivist theory and give some indication of its application to learning and the practice of teaching.

Key words: radical constructivism, evolution, development