21st century competences vs 21st century education

The issue of transformation of Russian education so as to bring it in line with the requirements of the new reality is very acute today. In his Address to the Federal Assembly in December 2016, the President of the Russian Federation outlined the task of launching a large-scale system-wide program for the development of the economy of a new technological generation - the so-called digital economy. It requires skilled workforce to address this ambitious goal. A new knowledge society requires new skills, which are known as the competencies of the 21st century. The goal of the present article is to systematize approaches to determining the nature of the phenomenon of “competence” and a set of key competencies presented in foreign and domestic literature, as well as in official government programs. Engaging in global competition makes it necessary to focus on the training of graduates; the training programs should focus on communication, cooperation, creativity, innovation, critical and analytical thinking and the ability to effectively solve real problem; this, in turn, will help build a strategy to improve the training of current and future professionals. The article is based on the analysis of Russian and foreign trends and is supplemented by a review of relevant quantitative studies. The theoretical model of “21st century competence” is formed. The results of the study show that 21st century competences consist of three groups. The first group is represented by the main or key competencies of the citizen such as literacy, mathematics, scientific literacy, etc. The second group includes generation and processing of complex information, communication, information and ideas, problem solving, cooperation, teamwork and adaptability to the environment. The third group is formed by competencies in terms of information and communication technologies, or digital competencies, which include technological resources and their appropriate use. It is shown that policy in the field of education should take into account all subsets of competencies for the training of citizens belonging to the knowledge society. The author proposes the directions for further development of this issue.