Change of educational priorities: transition from knowledge and skills to general competencies

The article is devoted to the problem of formation of General competencies in the conditions of modern secondary vocational education. The authors consider the historical aspect of the emergence of common competencies, and draw analogies between the knowledge, skills and abilities that precede the competence approach. The competence approach is interpreted as a historical need to change educational priorities, the methodological and theoretical aspects of which were formed long before the official concept of "competence" appeared. Modern national education is on the path of continuous modernization. The system of secondary vocational education is suffering significant changes. The task of colleges is to form a specialist who is competent both in the professional and social sphere, competitive in the harsh conditions of the labor market, creative and mobile in dealing with problems, physically healthy and possessing the qualities of a citizen-patriot. The analysis of modern scientific and pedagogical ideas showed that the researchers considered the problem from different sides. For a deeper understanding of the current state of the problem of forming common competencies, it is necessary to consider its historical aspect. The time frame for the coverage of this problem is 1980-2000. According to the authors, this period is the initial stage of the formation of the competence approach in domestic education. Despite the fact that the new trends associated with the implementation of this approach were influenced by political processes and the development of educational systems in foreign countries, the introduction of the competence approach in Russia, as well as the change of educational priorities from knowledge, skills and abilities to competencies, had their own identity and specificity.