The objective of this article is to analyze proposals for professional education through an examination of the document of the National Curricular Directives for Professional Education and the Technical Level of the MEC/CNE in the context of recent transformations of capitalism and its expression in Brazil. The emphasis of the analysis is placed on the relationship between professional education and technical training, the transition of the concept of professional qualification to a model of competence and on the critique of technological determinism that appears to orient the referenced document