OfficialDiscourses in theeducationalsystems. Competencies: thenew curriculum password

Abstract

The utility of knowledge has always been assumed to be one of the essential and structural questions in any educational and curriculum narrative. In fact, the utility of knowledge frames different designs for educational systems. Knowledge, as presented in public education systems, originates in the mainstream culture as an “accumulated capital for a future time or cultural ornament” (Beane, 2002, p.19). It is shaped and sequentially arranged in a compartmentalized way that often is far removed from everyday context of students. Moreover, knowledge is frequently framed as being needed for a certain or eventual future requirement. Historically there has always been a hierarchical relation within the formal structure of learning, involving contents (what), time (when), and utility (what for). The traditional difference in social status of the different kinds of knowledge and their utilities is connected with the way education emerges institutionally, as well as the demands of the economy. The concept of competence was born at the center of this tension and has been developing there, and there is must be rebuilt.