The possibilities for university-based public-good professional education: a case-study from South Africa based on the ‘capability approach’

2012 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 585-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica McLean ◽  
Melanie Walker
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
The Capability Approach

scholarly journals Capabilities expansion for marginalised migrant youths in Johannesburg: The case of Albert Street School

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wadzanai F. Mkwananzi ◽  
Merridy Wilson-Strydom
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
The Capability Approach

In this article, we used the capability approach as normative grounding to analyse a particular faith-based intervention targeting ‘youth at the margins’ – in this instance, marginalised migrant youths from Zimbabwe living in Johannesburg, South Africa. We used Albert Street School (AS School), run by Johannesburg’s Central Methodist Church, as our case study to show how this faith-based organisation, through its focus on education, created not only spaces for marginalised youths to aspire towards a better life but also practical opportunities to convert their aspirations into action. Drawing on first-hand accounts of 12 Zimbabwean migrant youths who had completed schooling at AS School, as well as of representatives of both the school and the CMC, the article first sketches the Zimbabwe-South Africa migration context post 2000. A discussion then follows of AS School as a faith-based intervention which addresses the constrained capability for education amongst marginalised migrant youths.

Beyond social capital: a capability approach to understanding Refugee Community Organisations and other providers for “hard to reach” groups

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Capability Approach ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Refugee Community ◽  
Community Organisations ◽  
Purposive Sample ◽  
The Capability Approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of the “capability approach” as an alternative framework for understanding and conceptualising the role of Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) and other providers for groups conventionally considered “hard to reach”. Design/methodology/approach – A study of the education services of RCOs, drawing primarily on semi-structured interviews with 71 users, is put forward as a case study for how the capability approach can be operationalised. Findings – The capability approach is found to offer various valuable insights, relating to its appreciation of the multi-dimensional nature of human wellbeing, the significance of individual diversity, and the importance of human agency. Research limitations/implications – The case study is based on a relatively small purposive sample, and may have limited external validity. As the research design proved strong for exploring how RCOs develop their users’ capabilities but weak for exploring if and how they may also constrict them, further research in this area is required. Practical implications – A number of valuable attributes of the capability approach are highlighted for broadening the understanding, the role of RCOs and other service providers. Social implications – The paper outlines the potential of the capability approach to contribute to policymaking related to RCOs and other providers, and to debates relating to social exclusion, cohesion and integration. Originality/value – The paper draws attention to the value of the capability approach within the field of migration research.

PAR and Digital Inclusion, An Analysis Using the Capabilities Approach and Critical Pedagogy

2021 ◽  
pp. 1120-1135
Author(s):  
Sammia Cristina Poveda Villalba
Keyword(s):  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Adaptive Preference ◽  
The Capability Approach

This paper draws upon the capability approach and critical pedagogy to analyse the value of using Problem-posing Education, a participatory action research method, in a digital inclusion initiative in Brazil. First it the capability approach and explains why using critical pedagogy is a valuable way to deal with issues of power, collective conscientisation and adaptive preference. Freire's pedagogy is then presented and conscientisation is explained as a process of raising critical awareness and praxis. The case study, presents empirical work conducted in Campinas, together with a NGO named CDI, which offers free internet access and basic ICT skills using a Freire's inspired methodology. Findings are then explained and discussed using the theoretical framework. This paper concludes that there is great value in using Freire's critical pedagogy for digital inclusion, but that further research is necessary to identify less resource intense solutions that can provide students with both conscientisation and skills.

scholarly journals Serious Games, Mental Images, and Participatory Mapping: Reflections on a Set of Enabling Tools for Capacity Building

Informatics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teodora Iulia Constantinescu ◽  
Oswald Devisch
Keyword(s):  
Capacity Building ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Participatory Processes ◽  
Urban Transformations ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City ◽  
The Capability Approach

Increasing complexity of societal questions requires participatory processes that engage with capable participants. We adopted Horellis’ stance on participation as not an isolated event but a constant communication between different groups that can be assured by using enabling tools. We applied the Capability Approach to frame a capacity-building process and understand how this framework can support a collective of entrepreneurs to become aware of their capabilities (and the impact of an ongoing urban renewal process on these capabilities). The Capability Approach emphasizes the personal and structural conditions that impact a person’s capability to choose—the conditions that affect the process of determining what a person values. The paper builds on a two year capacity-building process conducted in Genk, Belgium, and proposes a conceptual framework for building capacities, in which the process and outputs collide with ideas of choice, ability, and opportunity, notions central to the Capability Approach. The case study looks at one of the main commercial streets of the city (Vennestraat) and reflects on a set of enabling artefacts used to engage proprietors in the capacity-building process. This capacity-building process, characterized by the idea of space and capabilities, advances a critical viewpoint on issues related to participatory processes and gives practitioners a set of enabling tools to start a conversation over complex urban transformations, such as the one in Vennestraat.

scholarly journals Analysing participatory video through the capability approach – A case study in Quart de Poblet (Valencia, Spain)

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 282-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Boni ◽  
Aurora López-Fogués ◽  
Gynna Millán ◽  
Sergio Belda-Miquel
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Young People ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Participatory Process ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Participatory Video ◽  
The Capability Approach

The aim of this paper is to analyse participatory video as a participatory action research method through the lenses of the capability approach. In order to do this, we used a participatory video experience that took place in the municipality of Quart de Poblet (Valencia, Spain) from February to March 2014. The participants were 11 young people between 16 and 24 years of age, severely affected by the economic crisis that has hit Spain in recent years. To develop our analysis, we introduced the participatory video as a technique and a process within the participatory action research methods. Then, we analysed the participatory process to verify the extent to which it had contributed to expanding the capabilities and agency of the participants. The evidence revealed a significant expansion of the awareness capability and, in some cases, of the capability for voice. In contrast, the capability to aspire and the agency of the participants were not expanded, due to contextual factors and the limitations of the process itself.

scholarly journals An Empirical Exploration of the Capabilities of People with Disabilities in Coping with Disasters

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 602-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khanh That Ton ◽  
J C Gaillard ◽  
Carole Adamson ◽  
Caglar Akgungor ◽  
Ha Thanh Ho
Keyword(s):  
Capability Approach ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
The Capability Approach

Abstract While the capability approach is increasingly being adopted for evaluating well-being and social justice in the field of human development, this approach in disaster research has remained scarce. This research thus seeks to address the disaster risk that humans face through a lens of capabilities, with a focus on the lives of people with disabilities. A multi-case study approach was adopted and two rural communes in Vietnam were selected as study contexts. Data were collected using focus group discussions and interviews that involved people with disabilities, parents/caregivers of people with intellectual/psychosocial disabilities, and representatives from related organizations. It was found that people with disabilities are affected by disasters due to the lack of capabilities that they value in coping with disasters. A range of capabilities that people with disabilities value was revealed in the study sites, with many being valued not only in times of disasters but also in daily life. The findings also highlight that, to actualize their valued capabilities, people with disabilities need access not only to resources but also to the factors that enable them to convert the resources to their valued capabilities. In most cases, the limitations to the achievement of capabilities are related to the external environment.

PAR and Digital Inclusion, An Analysis Using the Capabilities Approach and Critical Pedagogy

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Sammia Cristina Poveda Villalba
Keyword(s):  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Ict Skills ◽  
Adaptive Preference ◽  
The Capability Approach

This paper draws upon the capability approach and critical pedagogy to analyse the value of using Problem-posing Education, a participatory action research method, in a digital inclusion initiative in Brazil. First it the capability approach and explains why using critical pedagogy is a valuable way to deal with issues of power, collective conscientisation and adaptive preference. Freire's pedagogy is then presented and conscientisation is explained as a process of raising critical awareness and praxis. The case study, presents empirical work conducted in Campinas, together with a NGO named CDI, which offers free internet access and basic ICT skills using a Freire's inspired methodology. Findings are then explained and discussed using the theoretical framework. This paper concludes that there is great value in using Freire's critical pedagogy for digital inclusion, but that further research is necessary to identify less resource intense solutions that can provide students with both conscientisation and skills.

scholarly journals Towards a Theory of Education for Social Change: Exploring the Nexus between Transformational Education and the Capability Approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunday Paul C. Onwuegbuchulam
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Transformational Education ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
Theory Of Education ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Capability Approach

Education generally is geared towards training the mind and getting the learner to acquire skills and knowledge needed in different sectors in society. However, if we agree that education is a public good, there is need to go beyond its conceptualisation from a utilitarian perspective of being instrumental to society’s economic progress to an understanding of education as instrumental to realising individual’s transformative capabilities and subsequently, social change. Education aimed at achieving social change should focus on not only subjecting learners to cognitive aspects but also getting them to be capacitated to become agents of social change and progress. Exploring this theme and theorising on some mechanics of realising education for social change is the focus of this article. The article adopts qualitative desktop method and utilises secondary data to theorise on realising education for social change, with a consideration of the nexus between two frameworks: Transformative Learning and the Capability Approach frameworks.

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