Developing capabilities and the management of trust

Abstract

This chapter uses the lens of what is described as the field of educational administration, or school management and leadership, to consider what the capability approach offers theoretically to our understanding of social justice and ethical practice in education. Following Sen, such social justice is seen to be a matter of arranging our social commitments in ways that enhance our individual freedom to live a valued life. Capabilities, and the enhancement of individual capabilities through social arrangements, are then at the heart of the issue of social justice, including values and practices of educational leadership, public life, and institutions. The argument developed in the chapter, in its concern with the development of a democratic learning society founded on the principles of liberty, equality, justice, and democracy, is relevant well beyond the specific issue of educational administration and leadership.