This paper uses the capabilities approach to theorise the role of public technical vocational education and training (TVET) institutions. The paper is based on three projects. The first project was conducted in 2016 and funded by Education International, which is the international federation of teacher education unions (Wheelahan & Moodie, 2016). It was principally a theoretical exploration of the relevance of the capabilities approach to TVET. The second project was also funded by Education International in 2017 and continuing until 2019 and consists of four in-depth country case studies, and three desk-top case studies. The final project is funded by the John Cain Foundation in Victoria, Australia, which is a policy think tank.

 The capabilities approach was first developed by the Nobel Laureate and economist Amartya Sen (1999) and the philosopher Martha Nussbaum (2000). It is widely used to evaluate the extent to which social policies support disadvantaged groups in society to access the kinds of opportunities (and the resources they need to do so) that will enable them to make choices about how they will live, who and how they will love, and to live lives that they have reason to value (Robeyns, 2016). It underpins the United Nation’s Human Development Index (Stewart, 2013). Sen (2007: 99) contrasts the capabilities approach with the human capital approach, arguing that the focus of the latter is on the augmentation of production possibilities, while human capability focuses on the substantive freedom of people to live lives they have reason to value. Each is assessed by different measures.

 The capabilities approach is becoming widespread in higher education and in TVET to think about the purposes of education and the nature of curriculum (Bonvin, 2012; Kjeldsen & Bonvin, 2015; McGrath & Powell, 2016; Schröer, 2015; Walker & Unterhalter, 2007). The focus is on the person and on ensuring they have access to education that allows them to choose how they will live (capabilities), and to be able to live lives they have reason to value (functionings) (Nussbaum, 2000; Sen, 1999).  Capabilities refers to the freedom and capacities and resources that people need to make choices about how to live. Functionings are the outcomes that people achieve through using their capabilities. The capability approach also focusses on ‘conversion factors’ which are the broad social, economic and cultural conditions required to realise capabilities (Bryson, 2015). It has also been used to a more limited extent to think about system design and funding in vocational education (Bonvin & Farvaque, 2006; Tikly, 2013).

 However, there has been little that examines how the capabilities approach can be used to theorise the role of public vocational education institutions. The paper reports on the capabilities approach to theorise the role of colleges in the second, vocational sector of tertiary education as ‘anchor institutions’ of the vocational education system in their countries and of their local communities, industries and regions. This theorising is needed for two reasons. First, vocational education colleges have been defined residually in many countries, as doing what schools and universities don’t do, rather than having a positive role which is distinctive to colleges. This is related to the second reason; in highly marketised vocational education systems, public colleges are defined as ‘providers’ interchangeable with for-profit providers. Competition is seen to be a self-evident good, with governments only needing to invest in markets and not institutions. This has led to disinvestment in public colleges and increasing subsidies to private providers. In contrast, we use the capabilities approach to theorise a positive role for colleges. We argue that public colleges are institutions and not providers.

This paper draws on three projects which together comprise: • Analysis of the theoretical literature • Desktop research using secondary statistics on participation in TVET in high, middle and low income countries The project funded by Education International examined national case studies of six countries and of different intensities using different methods. It included: • Four in-depth country case studies which included sureys, analysis of secondary statistics from national data collections, and interviews with teachers and policy makers. It also included surveys in each of the four case study countries. The four countries and the number of respondents in each country were: Australia (898); Cote D’Ivoire (still open); England (1185); and, Taiwan (1757). • Three desktop country case studies which are: Argentina; Ethiopia; and, Germany. The team surveyed views on TVET in Australia, England and Taiwan in July and August 2018. The questionnaire was put on the web for anyone to complete during the period it was open. Respondents were directed to the web site by the union representing vocational education workers in each country. There were 26 questions, all of which were answered by around 67% of Australian (out of a total of 898) and English respondents (out of a total of 1,185) and 48% of Taiwanese respondents (out of a total of 1,757).

The capabilities approach has implications for broader TVET policies, governance, funding and the type of institutions that are needed to support individuals, communities and industries. It allows for an expanded view of TVET to support “the development of human capabilities and functionings that individuals, communities and society at large have reason to value” (Tikly, 2013: 20). As capabilities are embedded in their social context and manifest differently in different contexts, they require local engagement with social partners, educational institutions and a nuanced understanding “of the different kinds and levels of resource input required by different groups of learners” (Tikly, 2013: 29). Bonvin and Farvaque (2006: 123) argue that the development of capabilities depends on contextually appropriate approaches where local institutional actors are fundamental for the development of capabilities. Without locally and contextually appropriate approaches, the capacity for agency is diminished. They argue “it is of the utmost importance to leave as much autonomy as possible to local actors…” They explain that top-down approaches make it difficult to engage in reflexive regulation in creating the conditions to support the development of contextually appropriate capabilities. However, they explain that this doesn’t mean the end of all forms of central intervention; rather, that local actors are consulted in the policy process. This provides a basis for theorising the role of TVET institutions that are the local anchor institutions of the TVET system and of their communities. They are the anchor of the TVET system because they are the public institutions entrusted with fulfilling public policy objectives. They are the anchors of their communities because they build close links with employers and support the development of a high-skilled workforce; because of their close connections with local economic, social and cultural institutions; and, because of their ability to support and work with local disadvantaged communities.

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