역량기반 교육과정의 가능성 탐색

Issues of the competence-based curriculum for possibilities and limitations

최근 각국에서는 교육 경쟁력이 국가 경쟁력의 원천이 된다는 점에서 미래사회에 요구되는 핵심역량을 규명하고 학교교육을 통해 이를 실현하려는 노력이 시도되고 있다. 역량을 기반으로 하는 교육은 ‘무엇을 아는가’ 보다는 ‘무엇을 할 수 있는가’를 중시한다. 역량의 의미는 특정한 상황에서 개인이 활용하는 지식, 인지적 능력, 태도, 감정, 가치관, 동기 등을 모두 포괄하는 개념이다. 역량의 개념이 직업교육에 출발하여 교육일반으로 확장되는 것은, 이 개념이 학교 교육문제나 운영방식에 새로운 시사를 제공하기 때문이다. 전통적 교육과정이 투입과정 중심이었다면 역량기반 교육과정은 산출중심 과정이라고 할 수 있다. 본 연구는 역량기반 교육과정에 대한 무조건적 수용이나 비판에서 앞서, 그것이 함의하고 있는 개념과 교육과정 개혁의 특징적 요소들이 무엇이고, 제기되고 있는 비판적 쟁점들은 무엇인가에 대한 탐색이다.

It has been attempted to apply competence-based curriculum to leverage educational competitiveness for nation wide perspective. The major goal of competence-based curriculum emphasizes not what learners know but what they can do. Competence can be referred as personal capabilities to handle problems with their own knowledge, cognitive skills, attitude, emotion, value, and motivation as a comprehensive concept. Competence-based curriculum was originated from vocational training because it was valuable for those to apply new perspectives to a traditional approach for school management. A traditional curriculum was based on input oriented process; however, a competence-based curriculum was based on output oriented process. It is also important to have a better understanding of competency for those to apply competence-based curriculum. First, it emphasizes functional approach, which includes cognitive aspect and affective mode too. Second, it is based on internal structure that focuses on what they can do rather what knowledge is. By focusing on capability it would be easier to conceptualize what a learner can do. Third, competence is based on situational feature. A learner who has own competence can control and activate resources to solve problems. This study concluded that it would not be recommendable to accept competence-based curriculum just because it is a brand new concept. Rather, it was concluded that it is important to delineate what is key features for renovation and critical values by applying competence-based curriculum.