Values and competencies in the school of the future

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a concept of education that stems from the theory of cognition of one of the authors. From this concept the values and competencies (abilities and skills) are proposed that the School of the Future ought to develop as a new learning environment. The following basic statement is discussed: "Education is a process by means of which adequate relational behaviors (i.e. cognitive, affective and psychomotor behaviors) are triggered through which anot!!er (or oneself) arises as a legitimate other in coexistence with oneself." If this emotion is conserved as the fundamental culture that we live together, it is more likely to observe an educational environment in which human beings (adults and children) can live together in autonomy, responsibility and respect for themselves, for others, and for their ecological environment. If these conditions are fulfilled, human actions will be developed with trust and mutual acceptance. We can expect that within this educational and learning environment, persons will interact with enthusiasm in their daily life, they will show creativity when proposing new ideas, ability to assess themselves with equity and to conserve their adequate social behaviors with responsibility and self-respect. © 2001 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.