ERIC Number: EJ1050409
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0958-5176
EISSN: N/A
Distorted Representations of the "Capability Approach" in Australian School Education
Skourdoumbis, Andrew
Curriculum Journal, v26 n1 p24-38 2015
Recently, curriculum developments in Australia have seen the incorporation of functionalist "general capabilities" as essential markers of schooling, meaning that any pedagogical expression of classroom-based practice, including subsequent instruction, should entail the identification and development of operational general capabilities. The paper questions and critiques recent curriculum developments in Australia that characterises capabilities purely in functionalist terms, something that the broader capabilities literature eschews. The analysis is informed by aspects of the theoretical frameworks of Martin Heidegger and Pierre Bourdieu. It examines the notion of "general capabilities' in the Australian Curriculum. The paper argues that there is an inherent contradiction in Australian education policy, namely a vocationally oriented national school curriculum with implied functionings that cannot fulfil designated purposes. The paper finds that the curriculum's connection to increased individual and national economic prosperity, one championing "jobs and careers of the twenty-first century", is evident, although current populous forms and categories of employment seem to suggest otherwise.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Curriculum Development, Educational Policy, National Curriculum, Neoliberalism, Educational Practices, Educational Objectives, Knowledge Economy, Educational Change, Classroom Techniques, Delivery Systems, Relevance (Education), Capacity Building, Student Evaluation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A