「素養」是重要的教育理念，以素養為核心的課程，是近年來受到國際組織高度關注之議題。素養之意涵界定為包涵知識、能力與態度。「核心素養」是個人處於社會中所必須具備之素養，是個人生活所需之重要素養，更是社會國家發展所不可或缺的素養，因此，「聯合國教育科學文化組織」、「歐洲聯盟」、「經濟合作與發展組織」等等國際組織十分強調核心素養的重要性，特別強調「核心素養」是培育能促進個人發展與社會發展的高素質國民與世界公民之基礎，並透過不同學門的學術理論進行核心素養之探究。本文綜合歸納整理分析，根據哲學、人類學、心理學、經濟學，以及社會學等不同學門領域之理論觀點，針對核心素養進行學理探討，尋求建立「核心素養」的理論基礎。

Competency is an important concept in education and is at the core of future curriculum. The term “competency” is defined as an integrated concept of knowledge, ability and attitude. “Key” or “core competencies” can be broken down into critical competencies, necessary competencies and important competencies. Several international organizations, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the European Union (EU), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) emphasize the importance of key competencies in educational reform. In this paper, the author argues that the rationale and theoretical foundations of key competencies form different academic disciplines, such as philosophy, anthropology, psychology, economics and sociology, all of which contribute a set of relevant key competencies from their own theoretical backgrounds and disciplinary perspectives.