The objective of this work is to show that one of the competences that nowadays must be fostered, if we really want to respond to the demands for workforce from a socioeducational perspective, is that of self-formation. There is little doubt that the development model that society currently wants to implement requires a larger formative volume, a higher level of formation of each individual. However, we also think that it demands a model of formation which, if not different, is at least complementary to that one. Looking beyond an individualist, intellectualist, isolationist, and abstract pedagogy based on a logic of knowledges and institutions, we believe that the formative system must rescue a more social and global view of the processes of production and of life. A logic grounded on the modes of action that take place in the world of life and work. Overcoming the simple lists of competences, we have asked ourselves how the competences are generated, acquired and developed, and we have concluded that the approach of self-formation responds not only to certain economic trends, but also to the transformations that society has experienced along the last decade. Keeping in mind that the human being is more than just a productive, labor node, and that self-formation is a characteristic expected of the subject as such, in his/her totality and relation with the surroundings, we conclude this work by presenting self-formation as a key competence and model of formation for the society of the 21st century.
Key competences; Self-formation; Work market; Formative system