This paper is concerned with philosophy of education focusing on upbringing and construction. The purpose of the paper is to discuss why the concept of constructivism can be no substitute for the concept of upbringing. The exclusion of the concept of upbringing from the scientific discourse of education and the inclusion of concepts such as learning, competence and construction indicates it. The mere existence of concepts within the scientific discourse of education is no guarantee of their educational relevance per se. On the contrary, an educational perspective is a precondition for our ability to communicate and deal with an educational problem, and this precondition is the starting point of this examination of the concept 'construction' in an educational perspective. It can be claimed that the concepts of learning, competence and construction function as a kind of substitute for the concept of upbringing. However,what makes such substitutes problematic originates from the way the new societal conditions of upbringing are comprehended. These conditions impose new reflections on upbringing, but this does not mean that upbringing can be neglected as an educational task. The big conceptual uncertainty concerning upbringing is the main reason why concepts from other sciences can be imported into the scientific discourse of education without being educationally legitimized. One concept that emerges again and again in the discourse is the concept of construction, but it is seldom educationally reflected.Construction is a concept, which contrary to upbringing cannot be restricted to childhood.It is reflected on in a life long perspective and excludes the traditionally normative educational perspectives. Even if we agree that educational activity is connected with a life long perspective, one cannot claim that this perspective leads to the exclusion of upbringing as an educational topic per se.This paper is a theoretical study Upbringing is considered as an intentional intervention into the child's learning process, and this is absent from the concept of construction. Construction is restricted to a perspective of construction of knowledge, and therefore it cannot be a substitute for the concept of upbringing.Brumlik, Micha (2000): Pädagogik als Humanwissenschaft. Erziehungswissenschaft. Begründungsversuche und I: Böhme, Peter u.a. (Hrsg.): Von der Notwendigkeit der Reflexionen. Luchterhand. Diesbergen, Clemens: Radikal-konstruktivistische Pädagogik als problematische Konstruktion. Eine Studie zum Radikalen Konstruktivismus und seiner Anwendung in der Pädagogik. Peter Lang. 2., unveränderte Auflage, 2000. Glasersfeld, Ernst von (1996): Radikaler Konstruktivismus. Ideen, Ergebnisse, Probleme. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. Glasersfeld, Ernst von (1987):Wissen, Sprache und Wirklichkeit : Arbeiten zum radikalen Konstruktivismus; autorisierte deutsche Fassung von Wolfram K. Köck. - Braunschweig : Friedrich Vieweg. Lenzen, Dieter (1997). Lösen die Begriffe Selbstorganisation, Autopoiesis und Emergenz den bildungsbegriff ab? Zeitschrift für Pädagogik. 43. Jg., Nr. 6. 949-968. Lenzen, Dieter (1997): Professionelle Lebensbegleitung - Erziehungswissenschaft auf dem Weg zur Wissenschaft des Lebenslaufs und der Humanontogenese. Erziehungswissenschaft. 7. Jahrgang. Heft 15. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft. Leske + Budrich. Luhmann, Niklas (1988): Reflexionsprobleme im Erziehungssystem / Niklas Luhmann, Karl Eberhard Schorr. - Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp. (Suhrkamp Taschenbuch. Wissenschaft; 740). Nielsen, Kurt (2005). Education Between A Normative And A Systems theoretical Approach. European Conference on Educational Research. University College Dublin. Nielsen, Kurt (2004). Pædagogisk filosofi - en praktisk disciplin. I: Olsen, A. E., Pædagogikkens filosofi - tanker om menneskets frembringelse (1 udg., s. 59-73): Roskilde Universitetsforlag. Nielsen, Kurt (2004): REFLECTIONS ON EDUCATIONAL THINKING IN A FUTURE PERSPECTIVE. European Conference on Educational Research. University of Crete. Olsen, A. E. & Nielsen, K. (2004). Pædagogikkens videnskabelighed - problemer og diskussioner. I: Lars Aagaard & Steen Brock, Videnskabens ansigter (1. udg.. s. 66-77). Århus: Philosophia. Pongratz, Ludwig A. (2005): Untiefen im Mainstream. Büchse der Pandora. Reich, K.: Systemisch-konstruktivistische Pädagogik: Einführung in die Grundlagen einer interaktionistisch-konstruktivistischen Pädagogik. Berlin. Luchterhand, 1996.