I will have to disagree with the author on specifics (but agree on the broad premise)
it is not what the foundational knowledge "is" - but "how" the foundational knowledge is "unpacked" by each person from the first principles.
this was articulated by Descartes in "Rules for the direction of the mind" which remains sadly unread and forgotten.
the difference between the 2 approaches is that the author's approach does not clearly delineate what is meant by "learning". In fact, it could even encourage rote-learning of the foundational material. Descartes outlines an alternative.
An interesting anecdote about Descartes is that he "unlearnt" everything he knew early in life, and attempted to "rebuild" his knowledge. Few of us have the luxury to do that.
link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_for_the_Direction_of_the...