Beyond Skills : A Capability Conception of Vocational Education / Leesa Wheelahan and Gavin Moodie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wheelahan, Leesa, author.

Moodie, Gavin, author.

Series:

The Knowledge Economy and Education ; 14.

Educational Research E-Books Online, Collection 2026.

The Knowledge Economy and Education ; 14

Educational Research E-Books Online, Collection 2026

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education.

Education Policy & Politics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (258 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

A Capability Conception of Vocational Education

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : BRILL, 2026.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Vocational education transforms the lives of its students and offers them opportunities they would otherwise not have. Vocational education teachers and institutions support students and contribute to their communities, regions and industries, often in spite of, and not because of, funding and government policies. This book argues that a new 'social settlement' is needed in vocational education, one which is based on a broader understanding of occupations and preparation for work. It argues for more expansive understandings of the purposes of vocational education which includes support for human flourishing, social justice, social inclusion, and sustainability.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Preface

Figures and Tables

Figures

Tables

About the Authors

1 There is an Alternative for Vocational Education

1 Introduction

2 The Current Social Settlement: Human Capital Theory

3 A New Social Settlement in Vocational Education is Needed

4 Mode of Theorising

4.1 Transcendental, Immanent and Explanatory Critiques

5 Following Chapters

2 Current Foundations: the Evolution of Human Capital Theory and Its Varieties

2 TINA and the Skills Discourse

2.1 Changing Conceptions of Lifelong Learning

2.2 Human Capital Theory Adopted as Government Policy

3 Antecedents to Human Capital Theory

4 Varieties of Human Capital Theory

5 Critiques of Human Capital Theory

6 Hegemony of the Skills Discourse

7 Conclusion

Acknowledgements

3 Apogee: the Skills Fetish and Notions of Human Agency

2 The Relentless Expansion of Skill

3 Genericism and Trainability

4 A Comparison of Anglophone and Northern European Conceptions of Skills

5 Nominalism, Empiricism, Methodological Individualism and Behaviourism

6 Reification of a Social Relation

7 Skill as a Market Relation and the Proprietary Possessive Individual

8 Conclusion

4 How Curriculum is Transformed and Subordinated to Employability: a Bernsteinian Analysis

2 The Evolution of Micro-Credentials and 21st Century Skills

2.1 Competency-Based Training - The Trojan Horse

3 A Bernsteinian Framework

3.1 Genericism

3.2 The Principle of Recontextualisation

4 The Regulative Discourse Underpinning Micro-Credentials

5 Conclusion

5 Why Qualifications Matter

2 Defining Qualifications

3 Policy Contradictions

3.1 The Rediscovery of Vocational Education.

4 Trow: Elite, Mass and Universal Higher Education

5 Three Key Theories of Education and Qualifications

5.1 Human Capital Theory

5.2 Institutional Theory and the "Schooled Society"

5.3 Credentialist Theories

5.3.1 Weberian Credentialist Theories

5.3.2 Marxist Credentialist Theories

6 Qualifications as Evaluative Rules

7 The Value and Purposes of Qualifications

6 A New Foundation - Human Capabilities

2 Alternatives to Instrumental Theories of Education

3 An Overview of the Capabilities Approach

3.1 Capability for Education

4 Broader Resources

5 Collective Capabilities

6 Caveats in Using the Capabilities Approach

7 The Individual Purpose of Vocational Education

8 Vocational Education to Develop Capabilities

9 Conclusion

7 The Educational Purposes of Vocational Education

2 Bernsteinian and Critical Realist Perspectives on the Nature of Knowledge

3 Why Access to Knowledge Matters - Pedagogic Rights and Democracy

3.1 Powerful Knowledge and Knowledge of the Powerful

4 The Relative Autonomy of Education and the Purposes of Education

5 What Would a Knowledge-Rich Vocational Education Curriculum Look Like?

6 Conclusion

8 The Occupational Purposes of Vocational Education

2 The Interaction of the Supply and Demand for Expert Workers

3 Transitions from Education to Work

3.1 Apprenticeships

3.2 Induction and Internal Development

3.3 Incorporating Work Experience in Educational Programs

3.4 Develop Programs for Specific Jobs

4 Match of Post-secondary Education and Work

4.1 Canadian College Education

4.2 Canadian Baccalaureates

4.3 Canadian Employment

4.4 Australian Vocational Education

4.5 Australian Higher Education

4.6 UK.

5 Implications for Vocational Education

5.1 Vocational Streams

5.2 Broader Resources

5.3 Develop Expertise

5.4 Broader Context

9 The Social Purposes of Vocational Education

2 Social Purpose

3 Teaching

4 Disseminate Ideas

4.1 Form and Reform of Social Institutions

4.2 Foster Development

5 Service

5.1 Attraction

5.2 Collective Capacity

6 Mechanisms

6.1 Synergy

6.2 Social Capital

6.3 Agglomeration

6.4 Emergence

6.5 Collective Action

7 Fostering Colleges' Capacity

10 Review and Prospects

1 Current Foundations of Vocational Education

2 A New Foundation for Vocational Education

3 Developing Organisations and Institutions to Fulfill Vocational Education's Promise

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References

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9789004756441

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004756441 DOI