TALKING ABOUT COMPETENCIES IN EDUCATION

The last decades have taken into discussion the issue of competence as a central one in education. Nobody denies that this concept is an appropriate one and the focus on the development of competencies is a proper approach in education. The confusion appears in the moment when the concept of competence is to be defined. It seems that nowadays it is a kind of fashion to use the world competence if necessary or not. Thus, term competence is used both in scientific context and in everyday language, but with a variety of meanings in each of these contexts. The everyday language uses the word competence as an attribute of a person or within an institutionalized context the term is used for defining an area of right of decision according to a status: competence of decision. Thus ”competence is usually an attribute used for individuals, social groups or institutions, when they possess distinctive qualities, or demonstrate their capacity to accomplish appropriate results, according to important and specific demands.