Capacity
Active agency
The Making Enabling Spaces Framework is built around the principles of Connection, Capacity and Meaning. One of the most significant features of the Making Enabling Spaces Framework is the overlaps between the key concepts of Connection, Capacity and Meaning.
Capacity is the enhanced capability to act based on skills, confidence and experience; using available tools. Capacity is a sense of autonomy or self-efficacy. It is the awareness of having a choice and undertaking active decision making. While it is related to the idea of independence and self-determination, it is also the ability to be aware of supports and support networks and having the ability to ask for help if needed. Capacity is linked to Meaning in that young people having a sense of their own capacities and a feeling of control over their own learning often leads to Meaning.
The links below include useful published resources and (via the "composite of" links) provide pathways to related program objectives of three sample organisations. Each of these organisations has a different relationship to the concept of Capacity and the links are intended to give visibility to the different approaches to measurement that exist within the shared framework. As each organisation and their approach to programs are different, their use of the concepts of Connection, Capacity and Meaning is also different.
See also:
Composite of
Published resources
Book Sections
- Lewis, Marian and Brennan, Jo & Bates, Darryl, 'Addressing the needs of disadvantaged youth - the Toowoomba Flexi School: a sustainable alternative', in Postle, Glen David, Burton, Lorelle Jane & Danaher, Patrick Alan (ed.), Community capacity building: lessons from adult learning in Australia, NIACE, Leicester: United Kingdom, pp. 79-90. Details
Journal Articles
- Hayes, Debra, 'Re-engaging marginalised young people in learning: the contribution of informal learning and community-based collaborations', Journal of Education Policy, vol. 27, no. 5, September 2012, pp. 641-653. Details
- Mills, Martin, Renshaw, Peter & Zipin, Lew, 'Alternative education provision: A dumping ground for 'wasted lives' or a challenge to the mainstream?', Social Alternatives, vol. 32, no. 2, 2013, pp. 13-18. Details
- O'Donovan, Richard, Berman, Naomi & Wierenga, Ani, 'How schools can move beyond exclusion', International Journal of Inclusive Education, vol. 19, no. 6, 2015, pp. 645 - 658. Details
- Zyngier, David, 'Connectedness - Isn't it time that education came out from behind the classroom door and Rediscovered Social Justice', Social Alternatives, vol. 22, no. 3, 2003, pp. 41-49. Also available at http://users.monash.edu.au/~dzyngier/social%20alternative.pdf. Details
Reports
- Te Riele, Kitty, Putting the Jigsaw Together: Flexible Learning Programs in Australia. Final Report., The Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity and Lifelong Learning, Melbourne, 2014. Also available at http://dusseldorp.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Victoria-Institue-1-7-MB2.pdf. Details
Online Resources
- Cole, Peter, 'Learning in Alternative Settings: What makes a sustainable program?', 2004, http://dusseldorp.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/lc/docs/Learning_Settings.pdf. Details
- Wright, Nicole, 'Understanding the true meaning of flexibility in working with young people in 'flexi-schools'', newTransitions, May 2008, http://www.yanq.org.au/newtransitions-journal. Details