Theorising the Role of Public Vocational Education Institutions Using the Capabilities Approach

Wheelahan, L., Moodie, G., Lavigne, E., Mou, L. , Samji, F. and Coppens, L. (2019) Theorising the Role of Public Vocational Education Institutions Using the Capabilities Approach. In: European Conference on Educational Research (ECER 2019), Hamburg, Germany, 2-6 Sept 2019, pp. 445-453. (doi: 10.5281/zenodo.3358917)

Abstract

This paper observes several limitations of human capital theory, both as a description of the way qualifications are used in the labour market, and in severely limiting the potential roles vocational education. It proposes as an alternative the human capabilities approach which posits that the goal should be for everyone to have the capability to be and do what they have reason to value. The paper reports the application of human capabilities as productive capabilities which are located in and concentrate on an intermediate specialised level, the vocational stream which links occupations that share common practices, knowledge, skills and personal attributes. The paper reports an application of the concept of productive capabilities to seven countries: Argentina, Australia, Côte d’Ivoire, England, Ethiopia, Germany, South Africa and Taiwan. From this the report finds that productive capabilities rest upon broader social, economic, cultural, and physical resources. .

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mou, Dr Leping
• Authors: Wheelahan, L., Moodie, G., Lavigne, E., Mou, L., Samji, F., and Coppens, L.
• Subjects: L Education > L Education (General)
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Trends in Vocational Education and Training Research, Vol. II. Proceedings of the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), Vocational Education and Training Network (VETNET)
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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