The Capability Approach, developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and based on Aristotelian ethics, provides a theoretical framework for the discussion of fundamental social (in)equality and (in)justice. At its core is the question of the interaction between people's abilities and the resources available to them. To emphasise this analytically, a distinction is made between functionings and capabilities: „Functionings are people’s beings and doings whereas capabilities are the real or effective opportunities to achieve functionings“ (Potsi 2018: 243). This focus makes the Capability Approach particularly interesting for educational issues and is suitable with regard to transfer to school, teaching research and teacher training. With the central distinction between "functionings" (abilities) and "capabilities" (opportunities for realisation) this approach goes beyond the functional perspective of the widespread approaches widely used in the field of education, because it not only considers the internal-personal conditions of individuals (competences), but also the external-social conditions through which the potentials of learners can be turned into real possibilities (= capabilities).

Accordingly, pedagogical action according to the Capability Approach means "paying careful attention to pedagogical and content-related issues and considering how lesson content and the nature of interactions in the classroom (for example, the role assigned to critical thinking and the ability to imagine things of different kinds in everyday teaching) realise the goals inherent in the approach" (Nussbaum 2015: 155). It should also be questioned which dimensions of school life (from the organisational structure to the concrete teaching activities, the spatial design and the work with parents) can be critically examined and further developed in this respect. Such considerations should already be an integral part of the knowledge and reflection canon in the training of prospective teachers in order to be able to guarantee a school education aimed at the realisation opportunities of the pupils and the necessary willingness of the teachers to do so.

In order to explore the potential of the Capability Approach in the context of teacher training, a working group at the University College for Teacher Training Vienna/Krems is working on the question of how prospective teachers can be explicitly and systematically familiarised with this topic and thus be prepared for equity-sensitive pedagogical practice.

In the presentation, the main theoretical features of the Capability Approach will be addressed and related to questions of educational equity in schools. Based on that, the work of the working group and first insights will be introduced. In concrete terms, this means the potential benefits for teacher education, implication for a curriculum as well as teaching material that is currently in progress.

The interdisciplinary working group, which has been meeting regularly for around three years, brings together colleagues from various subject areas (general education, educational sociology, inclusion education, subject didactics, etc.). Key questions such as "How fair is school?" or "How must school life be so that students can develop their abilities in the best possible way?" are discussed by this interdisciplinary composition from different perspectives and subject approaches, but always with reference to the Capability Approach. The methodological approach in the project consists firstly of theoretical analysis and secondly of the development of materials for university teaching. Ad 1) Theory work: This takes the form of a literature review on the Capability Approach with a special focus on the education sector with the aim of developing a common understanding of the core statements. In order to advance the discourse within the group, specialist publications were written jointly. In addition, the ideas of the Capability Approach were presented at various events (e.g. specialist group conferences, ...) and attempts were made to disseminate the topic within the university and invite colleagues to further participation. Ad 2) Material development: In addition to developing implications for the field of education, different didactic approaches and materials for use in teaching (primary and secondary education) will be developed. To this end, the working group will review already published teaching materials that deal with topics relevant to the Capability Approach. Building on this, suitable materials for teaching will be developed and tested in specific courses together with teacher students in a participatory process. The results of these tests will be incorporated into the further work of the working group.

The practical aim of the project is to develop materials for use in university teaching, which can be used to develop the concept, the core terms and the relevance of the Capability Approach for the school sector with students. An essential basic element is the participation of the students in the didactic preparation of the theoretical principles in order to design the materials to be as target-grouporiented as possible. Documents for various methodological and didactic approaches are developed in interdisciplinary cooperation: Compilation of basic texts and further literature (differentiated according to level of difficulty), elements for impulse lectures, preparation of case studies, work assignments for individuals or student groups, various seminar activities such as role plays, group discussions, poster sessions and creation of cognitive maps, ... This should ensure that existing approaches (expertise of students and teachers) from the fields of migration pedagogy, inclusive pedagogy, sustainable learning, educational justice, etc. are fruitfully incorporated into the work. At the same time, they will be reflected on and evaluated through experimentation in various courses and linked to the concept of the Capability Approach. At the end of the project, a conference is planned to disseminate the materials on the Capability Approach as a reference theory in various subject areas of teacher training and to familiarize other teachers with it. The documents produced are to be made available in a materials pool via OER (open educational resources) at the University of Teacher Education.

Graf, Gunter, Kapferer Elisabeth & Sedmak, Clemens (2013) (Eds.). Der Capability Approach und seine Anwendung. Fähigkeiten von Kindern und Jugendlichen erkennen und fördern. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. Nussbaum, Martha (2015). Fähigkeiten schaffen. Neue Wege zur Verbesserung menschlicher Lebensqualität (engl.: Creating Capabilities. The Human Development Approach). Freiburg: Alber. Otto, Hans-Uwe & Schrödter, Mark (2011): Kompetenzen oder Capabilities als Grundbegriffe einer kritischen Bildungsforschung und Bildungspolitik? In: Heinz-Hermann Krüger, Ursula Rabe-Kleberg, Rolf-Torsten Kramer & Jürgen Budde (Eds.), Bildungsungleichheit revisited. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-93403-7_9. Potsi, Antoanneta (2018). Early Childhood educational curricula. In: Hans-Uwe Otto & Melanie Walker (Eds.), Capability-Promoting Policies: Enhancing Individual and Social Development (pp. 237–258). Bristol: Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447334316.003.0013. Rosenberger, Katharina, Gitschthaler, Marie, Hemsing, Werner, Sattlberger, Eva & Wachter, Andreas (2022). Das Schaffen von Verwirklichungschancen für Schüler:innen als Thema in der und für die Lehrer:innenbildung (pp. 71-93). In: Thomas Krobath, Kerstin Schmidt-Hönig, Tanja Mikusch & Thomas Plotz (Eds.), Transformative Bildung. SDGs in Lehrer/innenbildung und Hochschulentwicklung . Lit Verlag. Störtländer, Jan Christoph (2019): Bildung und Befähigung. Eine qualitative Studie zu kritisch-konstruktiver Didaktik und Capabilities Approach. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.