SKILLS FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Focusingonreimaginingthepurposeofvocationaleducationandtraining(VET)andgroundedin therealityofasmallcohortofyoungSouthAfricansandaninstitutionseekingtoservethem,Skills forHumanDevelopmentmovesbeyondtheinadequaciesofthedominanthumancapitalorthodoxy topresentarichtheoreticalandpracticalalternativeforVET.Offeringahumandevelopmentand capabilityapproach,itbringssocialjusticetotheforefrontofthediscussionofVET’spurposeatthe national,institutionalandindividuallevels.Indoingso,thisbookinsiststhatVETshouldbeabout enlarging peoples’ opportunities to liveaflourishinglife,ratherthan simply being about narrow employability and productivity. It argues that human development approaches, while acknowl- edgingtheimportanceofworkinitsbroadestsense,offerabetterwayofbringingtogetherVET anddevelopmentthanthecurrenthumancapital-inspiredorthodoxy. Offeringatransformativevisionforskillsdevelopment,thisbook: (cid:1) Considers the potential contribution skills development could make to broader human development,aswellastoeconomicdevelopment (cid:1) PointstoanalternativeapproachtothecurrentandflaweddeficitassumptionsofVETlearners (cid:1) PresentsforthefirsttimeanalternativeevaluativeframeforjudgingVETpurposeandquality (cid:1) Presentsatimelyaccountofcurrentvocationalandeducationtrainingthatishighonthe agendaofinternationalpolicymakers Taking a broad perspective, Skills for Human Development presents a comprehensive and unique framework which bridges theory, policy and practice to give VET institutions a new way of thinking about their practice, and VET policymakers a new way of engaging with globalmessagesofsustainablehumandevelopment.Itisavitalresourceforthoseworkingon the human development and skills approach in multiple disciplines and offers a grounding frameworkforinternationalpolicymakersinterestedinthisgrowingarea. LesleyPowellistheResearchChair:YouthUnemployment,EmployabilityandEmpowermentat theNelsonMandelaUniversity,SouthAfrica,andHonoraryAssistantProfessor:SchoolofEduca- tion,UniversityofNottingham,UK. Simon McGrath is UNESCO Chair in International Education and Development at the Uni- versity of Nottingham, UK,andExtraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape, SouthAfrica. This page intentionally left blank SKILLS FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Transforming Vocational Education and Training Lesley Powell and Simon McGrath Firstpublished2019 byRoutledge 2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN andbyRoutledge 52VanderbiltAvenue,NewYork,NY10017 RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness ©2019LesleyPowellandSimonMcGrath TherightofLesleyPowellandSimonMcGrathtobeidentifiedasauthorsofthis workhasbeenassertedbytheminaccordancewithsections77and78ofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinany informationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe publishers. Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregistered trademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanationwithoutintentto infringe. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Names:Powell,Lesley,1966-author.|McGrath,SimonA.,author. Title:Skillsforhumandevelopment:transformingvocationaleducationand training/LesleyPowellandSimonMcGrath. Description:Abingdon,Oxon;NewYork,NY:Routledge,2019.| Includesbibliographicalreferences. Identifiers:LCCN2018051592|ISBN9781138100572(hbk)| ISBN9780367182151(pbk)|ISBN9781315657592(ebk) Subjects:LCSH:Vocationaleducation.|Occupationaltraining.| Careereducation.|Educationalchange. Classification:LCCLC1043.P552019|DDC370.113–dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2018051592 ISBN:978-1-138-10057-2(hbk) ISBN:978-0-367-18215-1(pbk) ISBN:978-1-315-65759-2(ebk) TypesetinBembo byTaylor&FrancisBooks CONTENTS List of illustrations viii Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction 1 The tricky terrain of terminology 2 Why VET matters 3 The need for a new theoretical approach 5 Methodological notes 9 A brief history of VET in South Africa 11 The purpose of this book 13 2 The realist-capability model: Bringing critical realism to human capability 21 What the capability approach brings to our thinking of VET 22 Margaret Archer and analytic dualism 34 Blending Sen and Archer 43 Conclusions 47 3 Operationalising the realist-capability model 53 Operationalising the realist-capability approach 54 Identifying dimensions and capabilities 56 Epistemological approach 60 Methods used 64 vi Contents Ethical considerations 70 Conclusions 71 4 The multiple dimensions of poverty 73 Dimensions of poverty 74 Core poverty 83 Key findings 85 5 Why students enrol at vocational education and training colleges 87 Public VET colleges advancing life choices 88 Here by default: colleges as the only place possible for improving their lives 99 Constrained choices: “I didn’t want to be a motor mechanic from the first place” 102 Powerful enabler – “. . . what more do you want?” 103 Student segmentation: differentiated needs 104 Agentially-mediating structure 108 Key findings 113 6 A capability list for college students 117 Summary of dimensions of capabilities and valued functionings 118 Capability Dimension 1: economic opportunities that matter 118 Capability Dimension 2: active citizenship 121 Capability Dimension 3: confidence and personal empowerment 124 Capability Dimension 4: bodily integrity and health 127 Capability Dimension 5: senses and imagination 129 Capability Dimension 6: recognition and respect 130 Capability Dimension 7: upgrading skills and qualifications throughout the life course 132 Capability Dimension 8: occupational knowledge 133 Key findings 134 7 Student achievements and institutional enablements 138 Capability Dimension 1: economic opportunities that matter 138 Capability Dimension 2: active citizenship 143 Capability Dimension 3: confidence and personal empowerment 146 Capability Dimension 4: bodily integrity and health 152 Capability Dimension 5: senses and imagination 154 Capability Dimension 6: recognition and respect 156 Contents vii Capability Dimension 7: upgrading skills and qualifications throughout the life course 159 Capability Dimension 8: occupational knowledge 161 Overall evaluation of the college 164 Agentially-mediating structure 166 Key findings 170 8 Conclusion 173 Index 179 ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 2.1 A framework for understanding human agency (adapted from Robeyns, 2005; Longshore-Smith and Seward, 2005 and Tao, 2013) 27 3.1 The empirical approach adopted in the study (adapted from Robeyns, 2005; Smith & Seward, 2005; and Tao, 2013) 61 4.1 Definitely poor in Dimension 1 (household income) 75 4.2 Definitely poor in Dimension 2 (individual income) 79 4.3 Definitely poor in Dimension 3 (single parent household) 79 4.4 DefinitelypoorinDimension4(parentaleducationalqualification) 81 4.5 Definitely poor in Dimension 5 (living in areas of high drug abuse and gangsterism) 82 4.6 Socio-economic status of participants 84 Tables 2.1 Four possible informational bases of judgement in justice 25 4.1 Dimensions of poverty: socio-economic background of FET college participants 76 5.1 Educational and work/study status background of TVET college participants 89 6.1 Dimensions of VET capabilities and valued functionings that matter to TVET college students 119 7.1 Learners’perspectivesonemployability(fromMcGrathetal.2010) 162 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book arises out of a long collaboration between us. We first formally met in 2002, although we may well have both been present at some events prior to that given the formal links between our then institutions in the mid-1990s. In that time, we have been workers in the same field, doctoral student and supervisor, and collaborators on projects with both of us as principal investi- gator at different points. Although much has changed, this text has its origins in Lesley’s doctoral thesis, for which Simon was lead supervisor. Our thanks for making that thesis what it was must go to the co-supervisors, successively Melanie Walker and Julio Gimenez. The major impact that Melanie’s intellectual influence had on the theoretical trajectory of the work will be obvious to those who read further. Examiners Leon Tikly and Chris Hall also gave invaluable feedback, and have supported the work in various ways in the time since then. The University of Nottingham School of Education supported Lesley’s doctoral studies. Since the completion of Lesley’s doctoral work, the university has continued to support this work both through initial postdoctoral funding to Lesley and through various travel grants that allowed Simon to visit South Africa to work on the book, as well as conference funding to present ideas from the book. Our gratitude goes to the principal, the management team and the staff of False Bay College for the support given to this study and in particular to Mr Kruger and Mrs Hendriks, respectively the principal and deputy principal. Our gratitude to the generosity of the 20 TVET college students who participated in the study is boundless. Without their disclosures, this book would not be possible as their personal experiences form the most original aspects of this work. Much of our thinking in this book has also been informed by many years of working with various student movements, NGOs, and national and international