Competencia entre significado y concepto

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to contribute to the clarification of the concept of competence in light of the new challenges the education and development of competence has to face nowadays. After a brief review of lexical issues related to the meaning(s) of competence, the analysis is focused on the debate concerning the concept of competence occurring within such areas as professional education, evaluation, and development. The analysis support the idea that rather than a unique construct of competence, there are several dissimilar conceptual fields, portraying competence as a complex, holistic, integrative, and relational concept. Competence is situational, it is reflected in action, it is not directly observed, it is related to the outcomes but it should never be confused with any particular performance.