Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/81053

JaLCDOI : 10.14943/J.HighEdu.28.1

The results of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 and the key competencies indicated by the DeSeCo Project continue to have a major influence on reforms in primary and secondary education around the world. Implementing competency- based education is important as it aims at efficient and rational teaching through rearranging the contents of education and specifying competencies, which are "knowledge skills and attitudes one should possess." In Finland, often named as an example of successful education, seven key competencies are set in the current curricula of all levels of schooling, where these competencies are taught and nurtured. I have attempted to clarify concrete elements through examining the kinds of competencies that should be obtained through science education and as a model case in medical education. For this purpose, it is necessary to have a discussion about the meaning of culture as the background of education and what skills and qualities should be fostered in children and students towards the latter half of the 21st century.