Competence Approach as a Basis of Professional Training for Higher Education Students in Conditions of Implementing New Educational Standards

Several centuries have passed, since the birth of traditional educational paradigm comprised of knowledge, abilities, and skills. The world has also changed, and pedagogical systems have remained mostly the same as those at the beginning of their formation, and have also become inadequate for time challenges. This is manifested in the fact that post-industrial or new information society of the 21st century facing the problem of lack of people, who would be able to work in new conditions right after the graduation. The situation when a specialist with a diploma has a finite amount of knowledge in the absence of ability to use it and replenish, becomes a deterrent to the development of the productive forces of society. This is the reason for the appeal of the European, and consequently, the Russian education to the competency building approach. Traditionally, the goals of education were determined by the set of knowledge, abilities, and skills that a graduate must possess. Today, this approach has been proven inadequate. Society needs graduates ready to run active life and capable of solving vital and professional problems occurring. This mainly depends both on received knowledge, abilities, and skills, and also on some additional qualities implying “competence†and “adequacy†that have more in common with modern education goals. To this end, in the experimental part of the study, a model for the formation of professional competencies of university students during the process of implementation of new educational standards was presented.