Abstract

VALLADARES, Liliana. The competences in scientific education. Tensions from the epistemological pragmatism. Perfiles educativos [online]. 2011, vol.33, n.132, pp. 156-179. ISSN 0185-2698.

Actually the focus on education by competences has become a matter of central interest in educational research because of its influence on many of the educational reforms. Nevertheless the notion of competence, and particularly in scientific education, is still ambiguous and sets out many questions, not only for psychology, pedagogy and didactics, but also for the epistemology. This paper is a contribution to the understanding of the competences from the epistemological pragmatism. From this philosophical framework the author debates on three tensions within the relation between the competences and the process of knowledge: a) about the idea of knowledge; b) about the structure of competences; and c) about the role of the context. The author argües that in most of the definitions of competences the knowledge are reduced to their merely declarative aspect, instead of understanding it in a comprehensive way as actions.

Keywords : Competences; Pragmatism; Scientific education; Knowledge.