TEORETICAL JUSTIFICATION OF «COMPETENCE» AND «COMPETENCY» TERMS IN RESEARCH OF SCIENTISTS (SECOND HALF OF XX – BEGINNING OF XXI CENTURIES)

Abstract

The article outlines the origins of competency education from the 1960s in Great Britain, Germany and the United States of America, notes the conditional division of the formation process of three stages of competency education, analyzes and theoretically substantiates the terms «competence» and «competency». Using the scientific works of scientists, an attempt is made to determine that competence is knowledge, skills and abilities that are manifested in various life situations and which a person must master within a particular institution. Competency, in turn, is seen not simply as the possession of knowledge, but is an integrative combination of theoretical knowledge, practical skills, motivation, personal values, qualities and provides a person’s ability to perform certain activities. A competent specialist will apply the method that is most suitable in a particular area.

The synonymy and discrepancy of the mentioned terms in the scientists’ researches are characterized. Thus, some argue that the terms «competence» and «competency» are semantically related and have consonance, and therefore do not consider it necessary to distinguish them. However, other scientists understand competence as knowledge, skills, abilities, values, experience of a person, which in arbitrary combinations in practice will be successfully implemented due to competency.

The terms «competence» and «competency» of different researchers (N. Bibik, M. Pentyliuk, J. Raven, A. Khutorskyi) are substantiated on the basis of studying the scientific literature during the second half of XX – beginning of XXI centuries, who prove in their works that competence should be understood as knowledge and skills that allow individuals to perform actions, and the performance of specific tasks in a particular area should be interpreted as competency. According to scientists, the terms complement each other.