The Capability Approach as an Alternative Framework for Higher Education Goals – Conceptual Reflections and Practical Proposals for Building Democratic Citizenship at University

2010 ◽  
pp. 207-228
Author(s):  
Alejandra Boni ◽  
J. Felix Lozano
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
Alternative Framework ◽  
Education Goals ◽  
The Capability Approach

Education as investment? A comparison of the capability and social investment approaches to education policy

2019 ◽  
pp. 19-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Michel Bonvin ◽  
Francesco Laruffa
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Normative Basis ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Capability Approach

This chapter compares the role of education policy in social investment and the capability approach. Based on an analysis of the document 'Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes' adopted by the European Commission in 2012 (and cited in the 'Social Investment Package'), we argue that the role of educational policy in social investment is mainly that of fostering the right skills for the flourishing of the economy and thus of improving people's productivity as workers. In contrast, the capability approach allows emphasizing the contribution of education not only to workers' employability but also to citizens' autonomy as well as to democratic citizenship. From this viewpoint, the capability approach could improve the normative basis of social investment, allowing to broaden the perspective on education policy beyond the one centred on human capital that currently informs social investment.

scholarly journals Reconceptualising the Child’s Right to Development: Children and the Capability Approach

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noam Peleg
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Active Participation ◽  
Alternative Framework ◽  
Right To Development ◽  
Children’S Agency ◽  
The Capability Approach ◽  
The Way

The article proposes adopting the Capability Approach as a theoretical framework to analyse the child’s right to development. Currently, the child’s right to development is realised as the child’s right to become an adult. This interpretation is problematic on several grounds, primarily its usage of developmental psychology as an underlying narrative to conceptualise childhood and interpret children’s rights, and its lack of respect for children’s agency. Using the Capability Approach’s conception of ‘human development’ as an alternative framework can change the way in which childhood and children’s development are conceptualised and, consequently, change the interpretation of the child’s right to development. It can accommodate simultaneously care for the child’s future and the child’s life at the present; promote respect for a child’s agency and active participation in her own growth; and lay the foundations for developing concrete measures of implementation.

A Case of Capability Expansion or Capability Reduction? An Exploration of Loan Recipients’ Views of ICETEX: Colombia’s Higher Education Student Loans Institute

2020 ◽  
pp. 153819272092007
Author(s):  
Lee Mackenzie
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Student Loans ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Education Student ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Conversion Factors ◽  
The Capability Approach

A government-established student loans institute known as Instituto Colombiano de Credito Educativo y Estudios Tecnicos en el Exterior (ICETEX) has been instrumental in improving access to higher education in Colombia. This article uses the capability approach to analyze the ways in which ICETEX has contributed to loan recipients’ well-being and identify which capabilities loan recipients have reason to value. Evidence from qualitative interviews with eight participants reveals that, due to an intersecting set of conversion factors and capabilities, ICETEX both enables and constrains participants’ capabilities.

scholarly journals Participation as Capacity-Building for Active Citizenship

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Chawla
Keyword(s):  
Capability Approach ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Participatory Planning ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Planning And Design ◽  
The Capability Approach

Within the framework of the “capability approach” to human rights, this paper argues that adults who facilitate participatory planning and design with children and youth have an ethical obligation to foster young people’s capacities for active democratic citizenship. Practitioners often worry, justifiably, that if young people fail to see their ideas realized, they may become disillusioned and alienated from political life. Based on the experience of the Growing Up in Cities program of UNESCO, four rules of good practice are distilled which can help promote young people’s belief in the value of collective action, regardless of the challenges that the full implementation of their ideas may face.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document