From Knowledge to Competence: Educational Purpose in Competency-Based Education

Abstract

This paper examines the philosophical transformation of educational purpose under the global rise of Competency-Based Education (CBE). It argues that the shift from knowledge to competence represents not merely a reform of pedagogy but a reconfiguration of the normative foundations of education. Traditionally, knowledge occupied a formative and ethical role in shaping persons capable of judgment and reflection. CBE redefines this role through a logic of performance, in which learning is measured by demonstrable outcomes rather than oriented toward understanding. Drawing on the critical theories of Horkheimer, Habermas, and contemporary educational philosophers such as Chappell, Gonczi, Hager, and Waghid, the paper explores how instrumental rationality has narrowed the horizon of educational purpose. Competence, while valuable as a means of organizing learning, becomes problematic when elevated to an educational end. The analysis identifies three structural consequences of this shift: the internalization of purpose within technical systems, the managerial rationalization of learning, and the erosion of reflective and moral formation. In addressing major defenses of CBE—its neutrality, its integration of knowledge, and its pragmatic alignment with societal needs—the paper acknowledges their partial validity while showing that each rests on an implicit instrumentalism. It concludes by proposing a framework for reclaiming educational purpose beyond competence through the restoration of knowledge as a formative good, the cultivation of reflection and uncertainty, and the reaffirmation of education as an ethical encounter. The paper contends that education must remain a human practice oriented toward understanding, not a technical system of measurable performance.