ENVIRONMENTAL COMPETENCE AS A CONDITION TO ENHANCE QUALITY OF SPECIALISTS’ TRAINING

Abstract

The publication reveals reasons and factors of social intensity caused by contradiction between nature and society. The author refers changes in goals and meaning of life in contexts of postindustrial society; loss of human values reflected by postmodern philosophy; prior market interests to these factors. The necessity to investigate existential issues concerning environmental intensity and problems of environmental safety appears nowadays. Many publications related to interdisciplinary research of global risky society point out necessity of the same kind. The article is aimed at updating aspects concerning environmental competence of a specialist. The author considers weak environmental competence to be fundamental of destructions built in all genesis levels, from global and general to routine ones. Education is targeted at building environmental competence as a systematic characteristic of educational subject. The author connects this statement with quality of education and points out that education quality depends on professional skills of a specialist and interacts with education. The paper considers environmental competence to be invariant of professional competence but it defines its specific characteristics. The characteristics include flexibility, interdisciplinary approach, integrity and sociocultural nature. The author pays attention to subject criteria of environmental competence.