Rationale and methods for an archive and encyclopaedia of "fundamental didactics"

Fundamental didactics" designates a line of development of didactics of mathematics which appeared in France in the late 1960s, before being developed around the world. Despite its historical importance, complete bibliographic and documentary resources do not exist yet. This is the main raison d'être of the recent project of elaborating its archives and encyclopaedia. Carried along by a group of researchers under the supervision of a scientific committee, it aims at assembling a body of works together with its commentary, to give an account of the genesis and development of fundamental didactics up to the present day, for expert as well as novice readers. Above and beyond, this project raises the question of how a research community can make progress, by showing how its results can cumulate into a coherent body of conceptual and methodological resources.