COMPETENCE-BASED EDUCATION AND TRAINING - PROGRESS OR VILLAINY

This paper notes the critical response that the 'competence movement' has received from writers in philosophy of education and argues for a more positive assessment of what it offers in relation to. (i) the pla ce of practical competence in a liberal education, (ii) the meritocrat ic principles underlying the competence movement, (iii) the 'transpare ncy' of expectations in assessment, and even (iv) the element of pract ical competence in moral performance. It emphasises, however, that not all versions of 'competence' can be defended in these terms and that this requires a more generic and cognitively laden concept of personal and professional competence.