Teaching for Human Well-being: Curricular Implications for the Capability Approach

Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum state clearly that education is a foundational capacity intrinsically important for human well-being and an enabling capacity for people to live lives they have reason to value. This article explores the resonance the capability approach (CA) has for the authors who, as veteran educators, have drawn their core professional values from democratic, critical, and feminist approaches to pedagogy. The CA provides a critical, generative lens for guiding and assessing curriculum development and pedagogical practices. To aid in their critical reflection and dialogue, the authors developed a heuristic to explore the following question: given contemporary educational challenges, what does the CA have to offer educators who have embraced libratory pedagogical principles? The authors conclude that the CA to education can be a powerful antidote to disturbing and dehumanizing past conditions, present realities, and current trends in education.