Abstract
Some scholars have argued that a the combination of the theoretical ideas of Piaget and Vygotsky pertaining to learning and development could lead to a more productive perspective with which to examine the learning and teaching of mathematics. Other scholars have contested this position. In this paper, I discuss the epistemological dimensions of this debate with a specific focus on the notion of “otherness.” More specifically, I consider the consistency (or the lack thereof) of the various assumptions that have been made about the nature of knowledge arising from the works of Piaget and Vygotsky as well as the various contributions that have been made to the debate, in the mathematics education research, about combining their respective ideas. I illustrate my discussion with brief examples of mathematics classroom research extracted from the existing literature in the field of mathematics education. The main purpose of this paper is to revisit the various conceptualizations of the consistency (or of the lack thereof) of combining Vygotsky’s social views with those of Piaget while expanding the debate by drawing on the newer perspective of otherness. In doing this, I aim to explore the controversy surrounding the unification and harmonization of the two powerful psychological theories put forward by Piaget and Vygotsky.
