SOCIOEMOTIONAL COMPETENCES: A “POWERFUL KNOWLEDGE” FOR THE 21st CENTURY

Abstract

The present work intends to justify the presence of socio-emotional competences in a common curriculum basis as an imperative need for the composition of a curriculum that is intended to be “powerful”. Comprising knowledge that has been produced and accumulated over the course of humanity's evolution, it provides resources for young people and children to be able to create new knowledge in order to achieve their own development and transform the world of which they are a part.

Initially, the definition of curriculum is presented according to the vision of Moreira and Candau (2007) and Young (2013). Then a discussion is made about what kind of knowledge should compose the curriculum according to these same authors, in addition to the contribution of Dubet (2004), to then define “powerful knowledge” according to Young's view (2013), with contributions from Cenpec (2015) and Dubet (2004).

Finally, there is the defense of the presence of socioemotional skills in the list of cognitive skills that are characterized by being fundamental elements of a curriculum in line with the demands of the 21st century. This defense is supported by Young (2013) and is endorsed by reports on the impacts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the structuring of society and, consequently, of the school.