A educação profissional pela Pedagogia das Competências: : para além da superfície dos documentos oficiais

The text analyses the professional education reform occurring in Brazil since 1977, based on Decree no 2.208 and on the Brazilian Curricular Directives and References for the Professional Education of Technical Teachers, from two viewpoints: The first one regards the pressure the notion competence exerts on the term of qualification, pointing out the weakening of both its social dimension and political contents. The second one discusses the epistemological, educational and methodological limits of the curricular directives for the professional education based on competence. It highlights inconsistencies between the official speech and its real orientations, presenting the materialist-dialectical point of view as an alternative.