Capability Approach in youth work, education and teaching

comprehensive means for fostering young people’s well-being?

Authors

• Sirpa Tani Helsingin yliopisto
• Tomi Kiilakoski Nuorisotutkimusverkosto/Nuorisotutkimusseura
• Päivi Honkatukia Tampereen yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.80151

Keywords:

school, youth work, discipline-based teaching, Capability Approach

Abstract

This article examines the ways in which young people’s wellbeing could be fostered by supporting their human capabilities both at school and in youth work. In the theory-driven article, we introduce the main ideas of the Capability Approach originally created by Amartya Sen and further developed by Martha Nussbaum. We analyse the potential of the Capability Approach in examining the relations between individual agency and social structures, and investigate how it has been applied in youth work and education. Two practical examples will be given, the first one coming from the field of youth work, the second one from the teaching of geography. The article shows that the use of the Capability Approach in examining the relations of youth work and school education is still rare. However, the examples make visible the ways in which the main elements of the Capability Approach can be used for the analysis of possible collaboration between school and youth work. Finally, the paper highlights the potential of the approach in building bridges between discipline-based teaching and young people’s everyday lives.