Educating for adulthood or for citizenship: social competence as an educational goal

In this article we discuss the social competence students should acquire to participate in society in an adequate manner. The focus is on social competence as an educational goal and on the question of how to evaluate the efforts of schools in enhancing the social competence of their students. First, a review study is presented of research on the social competence or pro-social development of students. Two perspectives figure in the literature on the meanings of social competence in modern society: an 'educating for adulthood' perspective and an 'educating for citizenship' perspective. Each emphasises different aspects of the social competence youngsters need to develop and follows a different line of thought in considering the task of education in enhancing social competence. In the second part of this article we select the components of social competence that should form part of the development of children and young people in a democratic society. We question what instruments are necessary to assess educational results in the field of social competence. On the basis of the review study we also analyse what type of instruments are currently available and what problems have been identified in measuring educational results in the field of social competence. The article concludes with a discussion of the normative character of the concept of social competence. © 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd