basic capabilities, basic learning outcomes and thresholds of learning

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Basic Capabilities, Basic Learning

Outcomes and Thresholds of LearningMarion Young

a

a Cambridge Education, Cambridge, UK

Version of record first published: 10 Jun 2009

To cite this article: Marion Young (2009): Basic Capabilities, Basic Learning Outcomes and

Thresholds of Learning, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities: A Multi-Disciplinary

Journal for People-Centered Development, 10:2, 259-277

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benefit such as an increase in earnings for each additional year of formaleducation and quantitative social indicators such as improved mother andchild health for each additional year of formal education (McMahon, 1999).

The analysis of basic capability, basic learning outcomes and thresholds

of learning develops the methodology for the operationalizing of a capability-based evaluation approach. The factors that enable and that present barriersto basic capability enhancement can be identified, providing validation for development of an evaluation process that originates from local perceptions.The individual scenarios discussed in this paper, and the issues that they raise,provide evidence of diversity in learning choices and learning outcome. Thisbegins to build up a framework of capability factors that can be applied accord-ing to their relevance in any given evaluation setting. This type of subjectiveevaluative process contrasts with the highly objective performance-based eval-uations of human development initiatives, which rely on pre-defined objec-tives and achievement of targets measured in quantitative terms against setobjectives. The open-ended capability-based evaluation of basic learningoutcomes has less restricted content boundaries and no sample restriction.The valued learning of any individual could be included in the evaluation.

The study reported here of 14-year-old children and their parents livingin rural Bhutan and Sri Lanka provides qualitative data on their local percep-tions of valued learning, applying an assumption that learning is valued by theindividual to the extent that it leads to improvement in her life. In this study,respondents made their own individual and subjective interpretation of themeaning of ‘improvement’ in the context of their own life, including imme-diate material benefit in cash or in kind, longer term family food, income and

housing security, and long-term benefits of higher education and improvedhealth, for example. Learning identified as valued by informants was there-fore analysed to reveal ways in which learning might improve the lives of people living in contexts of poverty (Young, 2008).

The study data have been categorized into four generic dimensions of valued learning outcomes: functional life skills learning, cognitive life skillslearning, interpersonal life skills learning, and personal life skills learning asagency freedom (Young, forthcoming) — from which basic capability, basiclearning outcomes and thresholds of learning are conceptualized. This paper seeks to identify some of the key characteristics of these four dimensions in

relation to positive outcomes of capability enhancement, unrealizedoutcomes as potential capability and negative outcomes as capability deprivation. The challenge is to identify methodologically valid means of measur-ing individual freedom within these generic dimensions of learning outcomeand capability.

Converting learning outcomes to improved life

The study intentionally focused on the lives of people living in rural and

urban poverty. A definition of poverty as “deprivation of basic capabilities



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rather than merely as lowness of incomes” (Sen, 1999, p. 87) was consideredappropriate to the particular context of this study since this enabled theinclusion of social and environmental factors for learning, such as levels of information access and self-determination, in addition to economic factors.

By focusing on deprivation of learning opportunity, a minimum thresholdlevel of learning may be identified above which the learner has acquired func-tional skills and knowledge that open up future opportunity. For example, aperson with a low level of literacy skills may be unable to develop the skillsneeded to keep herself informed. At a higher level of literacy, the learner acquires skills that enable her to access information and to make decisionsindependently. The study also provides the scope to define and distinguish between basic and non-basic capabilities.

An evaluation of the positive, negative and unrealized outcomes of education was considered in this capability-based evaluation approach as ameans of structuring the analysis. Qualitative information relating to positive,negative or unrealized education outcomes includes financial and in-kindcosts of learning, both of which were emphasized by the informants asrestricting children’s learning opportunity at a level of basic life skills learning.In-kind costs of learning include loss of contribution to family labour needsand lost opportunity to learn indigenous traditional knowledge and skillsbecause of school attendance. Some learners described their own learningachievement in terms of failure and negative aspiration using expressionssuch as ‘I didn’t go to school; I don’t know anything’. Negative expectationssuch as these tend to be linked to and conditioned by situations of disadvan-tage arising from and contributing to capability deprivation. However, there

is also evidence that families are willing to make sacrifices, seen as short-termcosts and as an investment, where learning is anticipated as expanding futureopportunity. Informants saw learning, in this context, as a way out of poverty.

The intention in this study was not to formulate a comparative metric of basic capability, basic learning outcome or threshold of learning; nor was itto argue for equality of learning opportunity, since the essence of theapproach was to identify individual, context-related levels of basic capability and basic learning outcome. This position can be justified on the premise thatthe characteristics of valued learning vary between populations and over time. Different populations, even in close proximity, may have very different

interpretations of valued learning depending on their socio-economic andcultural environment. One population may change its perception of valuedlearning over time due to the impacts of political and economic develop-ment. At this stage, definitions of basic capability, basic learning outcome andthresholds of learning are needed.

Basic capabilities

Using Robeyns’ interpretation, basic capabilities is related to the freedom aperson has that enables her to keep out of poverty (Robeyns, 2001, pp. 12–13).



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This aligns with Sen’s conceptualization of poverty as ‘basic capability failure,that is, the inability of individuals and communities to choose some valuabledoings or beings which are basic to human life’ (Alkire, 2002, p. 156). A non-basic capability is the freedom a person has to choose learning outcomes that

are not necessary for physical survival, such as “is able to study classical music”. A basic capability would be the freedom a person has to choose a learningoutcome directly associated with survival and avoidance of harm (Terzi, 2007,p. 35), such as learning that enables an individual “to ensure food security for the family”.

Basic learning outcomes

Basic learning outcomes are thus defined in this study as learning that isessential to an individual’s basic need for nutrition, shelter, education and

clothes (Alkire, 2002, p. 160). In the context of poverty and local perspec-tives of valued learning, the difference between achieved functioning in basiclearning outcomes and failure to achieve that threshold may be critical to thebasic well-being and agency of the individual. In identifying basic learningoutcomes the study draws on perspectives of valued learning that are locally perceived as important, including reasons for the particular valuation. In thisdescriptive study it was not intended that the evaluator makes explicit value

judgements of basic needs, although this could form the basis of a later study. Applying these definitions, all learning outcomes may be classified as

contributing positively or negatively to enhancement of basic or non-basic

capability, with ‘freedom to choose’ or ‘ability to choose’ being a criticalindicator.The implication is that a basic set of capabilities (beings and doings) are

identifiable. In the context of learning outcomes, a corresponding set of basiclearning outcomes may be identified, the achieved functioning of which provides individuals with the freedoms to move into and out of material or non-material poverty.

Thresholds of learning outcome and capability

In the context of this study, thresholds of learning are defined, based on adefinition of threshold as a level beyond which learning is functional and canbe self-sustained by the learner; for example, functional literacy achieved ata level where regression into illiteracy is unlikely. The threshold can also bedefined as a learning achievement that overcomes a barrier to futureopportunity, a standard performance-based example of which is passing anexamination. This assumes that there are definable stages of developmentacross a range of learning outcomes and that a stage can be identified at

which there is general consensus that learning becomes functional. This may not always be easy to define. Obvious examples of identifiable learning

thresholds of achieved functioning for the young child include ‘can walk’,




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‘can talk’ and ‘can ride a bicycle’. The corresponding threshold levels of capability are the capability to be physically mobile, the capability to commu-nicate and express one’s self through speech and the capability to travelfurther afield.

Thresholds of learning correspond with levels of freedom of choice, andeach threshold successfully crossed opens up new opportunities. Whether athreshold is crossed or not is determined by each individual’s perceived valueof learning, informed choice about learning options and personal disposition.The resulting learning outcome determines the freedom an individual has tomove into or out of material or non-material poverty.

An example from the study illustrates each of the components of basiccapability, basic learning outcome and thresholds of learning:

A girl who dropped out of school in rural Bhutan after completingGrade 6 examinations left school because she did not want to trans-fer to the lower secondary school far away from home as a boardingstudent. This was her only option for continuing education. She

wants to open a small shop. Her family has some land near the village community school and there is no other shop in the village.She doesn’t know how to find out what she has to do to set up andrun the shop. Her uneducated parents described their dilemma of

wanting her to complete basic education, with concern for her personal security if she attends secondary school as a boarder andtheir immediate priority which is the need for her labour contribu-tion at home. (14-year-old girl not attending school, rural Bhutan)

In this profile the girl falls below the threshold of completion of basic educa-tion but has achieved functional literacy and numeracy, and therefore hasbasic capability in being able to apply this to other learning opportunities.Future learning is limited to informal community-based options that may berelevant to her life situation but that may be unstructured and lacking in qual-ity. She has not achieved a level of functioning in the basic learning outcomesof small business management and financial management because of lack of personal life skills learning to be able to access information (agency unfree-dom), and therefore does not have the basic capability to run a village shop

through which she could improve her life. This profile can change over time,for example, if she does gain access to the information she needs or if shechooses to pursue another course of action and learning through which toenhance her basic capabilities.

Generic dimensions of learning outcome and capability

The generic dimensions of valued learning can be applied as a framework tothe identification of basic capabilities and basic learning outcomes. Some

basic capabilities and basic learning outcomes are generalizable to all learners,



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with broad consensus that core aspects of cognitive life skills learning in basicnumeracy and literacy are foundational to the learning needs of all children.This premise is qualified by the acknowledgement that literacy encompassesa diverse range of context-dependent skills necessary for functional commu-

nication. In other cases, basic capabilities and basic learning outcomes aremore specific to the local context, being pragmatic in their application to individual circumstances. The universal and pragmatic lists can be used to definea baseline, below which capability failure is defined. The customized listsdetermine the dimensions of basic learning to be evaluated, relevant tocontext.

Basic capabilities identified in the study have been grouped under four headings: functional life skills learning, cognitive life skills learning, interper-sonal life skills learning, and personal life skills learning as agency freedom(Table 1). Each of these dimensions will be differently contextualized andrealized by each individual.

Functional life skills learning thresholds

A threshold level of capability for functional life skills learning can be definedas the minimum level at which the individual can use her skills or knowledgeto a standard where, for example, a product is functional and marketable or an action demonstrates an aspect of the individual’s basic capability for inde-pendent living.

Functional life skills learning related to livelihood knowledge and skillscan be identified from the study data as a primary concern of both rural and

urban informant groups in relation to social and economic vulnerabilities andthe real opportunities that learning offers individuals to improve their lifechances. Education and learning generally leads to more productive livesacross all communities (Atchoarena and Gasperini, 2003; McMahon, 1999)

Table 1. Summary of generic dimensions of basic capability

Generic dimensions of basic capability Examples

Functional life skills learning Able to provide shelter, to contribute to the basic and essential

daily routine of the household and to grow food for survival, as

a baseline level of subsistenceCognitive life skills learning Able to achieve at least a minimum level of competency in

literacy and numeracy knowledge and skills

Able to access information to learn about new technologies for

improved living

Interpersonal life skills learning Able to live together in harmony and able to participate in

community development initiatives

Personal life skills learning as agency

freedom

Able to make informed choices and to access information on

rights to be able to challenge exploitative situations

Cross-cutting basic capabilities The practical application of skills as positive learning outcomes

Able to achieve financial security, able to remain healthy and

able to put into practice basic parenting skills




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but specific livelihood vulnerabilities are evident from the data, such asfinancial insecurity, lack of access to information about vocational trainingopportunities and learning related to new technologies. Such vulnerabilitiescan be considered as basic capability deprivation, which restricts individual

choice. This begins to illustrate some of the complexity behind the generali-zation that education improves lives. By examining in more detail theresponses relating to learning choices and valued learning outcomes using acapability-based approach, the issues of individual freedom of choice beginto emerge. The linkages between basic capabilities, basic learning outcomesand factors relating to improved quality of life can then be evaluated.

In rural Bhutan, functional life skills learning included the basic capabil-ities of house construction, which enabled the community to be self-sufficient in providing shelter for the family using local, sustainableresources. Home-making skills were among the basic capabilities of everyday living for all the informants where their standard of living was such that few modern conveniences were available and children had to learn to take their share of essential daily chores. Families living in poverty had also learnedhousehold management skills as a basic capability, which enabled them tomake cloth (Bhutan) and to tailor their own clothes (Bhutan and Sri Lanka).

In this study, livelihood learning focused on farming knowledge andskills as a basic means of subsistence for both urban and rural informantsliving in poverty. A basic learning outcome here is awareness of the knowl-edge and skills required to grow sufficient food for the needs of the family,access to information that can improve food production and the importanceof learning related to environmental sustainability for longer-term survival.

Basic learning outcomes in farming, as a particular dimension of livelihoodskills applicable to the study populations, could be defined as a minimumthreshold level of sustainable family food security.

Functional life skills learning relates to the broad range of practical skillsand knowledge acquired and applied in the daily life of each individual. Somefunctional life skills learning is acquired through formal learning opportunity

while many skills in this dimension are acquired through non-formal or infor-mal learning experience, such as intergenerational transfer of knowledge.The next dimension of cognitive skills learning focuses on more formallearning situations.

Cognitive life skills learning thresholds

Performance-based measures of learning outcome provide clear evidencethat the cycle of poverty is unlikely to be broken without completion of secondary education (Tomasevski, 2003, p. 102). This corresponds with theachievement of basic learning outcomes in cognitive life skills learning,particularly literacy and numeracy skills, and the global threshold of comple-tion of basic education. A standard threshold level of basic learning outcomein literacy learning is defined by functionality at which point the learner is

unlikely to regress to a level of illiteracy and can use her literacy skills to gain



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more knowledge. This dimension of basic learning outcome in cognitive lifeskills is, for most people, acquired through formal and non-formal teachingand learning situations. It demands a means of evaluating actual learningachievement, matched with relevance and application to daily life, to be able

to determine the learner’s level of functionality.Basic learning outcomes in cognitive life skills illustrate the need for global definitions of functional literacy and numeracy to be refined andspecified as pragmatic lists of cognitive life skills learning, contextualized andapplicable at a local level where, for example, there may be issues of locallanguage literacy distinct from a global definition of literacy. Similarly, aspecific list of basic learning outcomes may be defined through which toanalyse differences between the cognitive life skills learned in school andbasic literacy and numeracy skills applied in daily life. For example, in Bhutanthe Non-Formal Education (NFE) curriculum includes simplified scripts fromreligious teachings. These texts were identified, from a survey of learners, asliteracy learning that was valued and that can be considered a basic learningoutcome particular to that population. Similarly, a school drop-out in urbanSri Lanka demonstrated that he was numerate to a level of functionality inmental calculations needed for his daily work in the marketplace, whereas hestruggled to apply the school learning of pencil-and-paper methods he hadpreviously learned in the classroom to perform the same calculations.

Informants in the Sri Lanka study were generally very aware of thethresholds of cognitive life skills learning outcomes that limit employmentoptions, such as options that are open or closed on completion of each key stage of formal schooling, indicative of the competitive nature of their educa-

tion system. This contrasts with the general lack of awareness and learner competitiveness of rural Bhutanese informants. Both study locations demon-strated different influences of social policy on thresholds of learning. Infor-mation on learning opportunity was generally more accessible in rural SriLanka, where adult literacy rates are relatively high and the school system isfurther developed. Criteria for selection or de-selection of learners variedbetween the two study locations. In rural Bhutan, children are more likely have to live away from home from a young age in order to access secondary education, which causes some children to drop out before a functional levelof cognitive learning is achieved. In Sri Lanka, a system of welfare support

enables children from poorer families to attend school, and many poor fami-lies send one parent overseas to work so that they can afford to send their children to school. The following extracts illustrate parents’ understanding of employment opportunities related to each threshold level of learningthrough the formal school system.

If a child leaves school before the end of Grade 8 and the parentshave something the children can do then they leave school and work. Otherwise the only opportunity is to do labouring in someother place. It depends on informal networks for finding out

about work opportunities. After Grade 8 they can do labour work




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starting on the tea plantation and then plucking leaves. It is ahard life in the fields and we do not want our children to do this. At present my son helps with my work. I know he hopes to go toTechnical College to learn carpentry. It admits boys and girls over

18 yrs old with O levels. He is not old enough to join the Tech sohe helps on our land. (Mother of drop-out boy who completedGrade IX, rural Sri Lanka — father is a labourer, mother grows vege-tables)

My eldest daughter stays at home waiting for her O level results. After Grade 9 the children have to transfer and often they refuseto go to the new school. If there was Grade 10 here they would have continued their studies instead of dropping out. Sending boys and girls to the High School 6 km away in the town is a problem. We can’t afford it and they don’t want to go. (Mother of Grade IX drop-out girl, rural Sri Lanka)

It is difficult to say what children can do with Grade 8 pass as wedon’t have experience of what children can do at each level. Weheard about some children joining police after Grade 8 and Grade 10 but otherwise we don’t know what type of jobs the children can do. We know that some children get a job and others fail and get nothing. That’s all we know. (Mothers and fathers of girls and boys attending NFE class, rural Bhutan)

Analysis of the specific thresholds of formal education required for employ-ment provides evidence of vulnerabilities due to parents and children’s lack of information on learning requirements for employment combined, for therural sample of children, with the general lack of real choice of local employ-ment opportunity.

Interpersonal life skills learning thresholds

Interpersonal life skills learning includes individual adaptation to locally valued social norms for participation and position in the society, deter-

mined by social policy and cultural tradition. It also includes individualresponses to social change that are influenced by world views and level of exposure to mechanisms of change, such as participation in decision-making and access to new technologies. Individual positional relationships

within the social organization are also affected by and affect learningoutcome and capability. In each of these aspects of interpersonal life skillslearning there is scope for the identification of basic capability, basic learn-ing outcomes and thresholds of learning, some which may be generally applicable to all societies but differently prioritized or realized such ashuman rights, and others that are specific to particular cultures such as

religious teachings.



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An indicator of basic learning outcome relating to interpersonal life skillslearning, determined by social norms and social policy, could be ‘participatesin daily life in socially acceptable ways’. This will vary between populations,as will the associated threshold level of achievement recognizable for exam-

ple when one moves into an unfamiliar social setting.

It is important to learn how to behave in special places —Colombo and the village are different places. We must know howto behave, what to do and what to wear, for example. (14-year-oldgirl attending school, rural Sri Lanka)

This threshold is variable according to culture and to individual levels of exposure and world view. Some informants from remote, rural villages inBhutan had not travelled outside their own valley and had limited access tomedia through local radio but no access to television or newspapers. It wasevident that their basic capability in respect of interpersonal life skills learn-ing was limited by this restricted world view.

Different systems of social welfare benefit illustrate aspects of interper-sonal life skills learning, which provides indicators of basic capability andbasic learning outcome. In Bhutan, community participation in local devel-opment has enabled construction of schools and roads that has enhancedindividual capabilities in the community. In Sri Lanka, some people havelearned to become dependent on social welfare through a social welfarepolicy of cash transfer to pay school costs for poor families rather thanthrough transformative processes such as community ownership of a

welfare scheme as capability enhancement (Devereux and Sabates-Wheeler,2004). Both situations enable children living in poverty to gain benefit

where learning opportunities can contribute to poverty alleviation.However, dependency on social welfare could be considered to be a nega-tive learning outcome, restricting individual agency freedom. In contrast,community participation would generally be considered to enhance individ-ual agency freedom, unless forced through some form of coercion. Analysisof such situations reveals examples of positive, negative and unrealizedlearning outcomes depending on the way a social welfare system affectseach individual.

Personal life skills learning thresholds — agency freedom

Agency freedom, as a basic learning outcome, distinguishes between the individual’s personal freedom or autonomy to choose, for example, to remainilliterate, and the use of social mobilization and advocacy whereby individuallives are improved through some level of coercion as a negative choice or through participatory means of information sharing and opportunity for informed choice (Alkire, 2002, p. 170). Personal life skills learning as agency freedom cuts across functional life skills learning, cognitive life skills learning

and interpersonal life skills learning. Table 2 illustrates a range of descriptors




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that have been used by informants in the study to explain ways in which their learning opportunity has been enhanced (capability enhancement) or curtailed (capability deprivation).

The descriptors in Table 2 clearly illustrate the contrast between posi-tive agency freedom as an enabler and negative agency freedom as a meansof depriving individuals of the capability to improve their lives through learn-ing. Agency freedom is then a characteristic contained within all the previousexamples of functional life skills learning, cognitive life skills learning and

interpersonal life skills learning. A threshold of basic learning outcome related to personal life skills learn-

ing as agency freedom can be defined generically as ‘has learned to accessand apply information of practical relevance’. For example, a village health

worker serving a rural Bhutan community explained the agency freedoms of individual empowerment arising from cross-sectoral informal learning oppor-tunities amongst uneducated villagers. Learning had arisen informally through traditional health practitioners and outreach clinics. Mother andchild clinics taught basic healthcare practices to young mothers. Villagehealth workers taught basic first aid, health and hygiene practices, and HIV/

AIDS awareness through monthly visits to schools and monasteries. An exter-nally funded Model Village Programme introduced clear and achievable crite-ria for village self-improvement, including a path laid to each household for access to the latrine and routines introduced to ensure proper garbagedisposal. A local non-governmental organization had encouraged and trained

villagers and school children in eco-tourism, solar power installation andmaintenance, and financial management for small business such as needed by the village shopkeeper. Each of these examples of basic learning outcomehad expanded individual agency freedom and positive enhancement to thebasic capability of the individual.

The health worker described recent changes in local health practices:

Table 2. Characteristics of basic learning outcome and agency freedom

Positive agency freedom

descriptors

Negative agency freedom

descriptors

Cross-cutting examples

Informed choice Coercion Functional life skills

Empowerment Dependency Livelihood choicesEnhanced awareness Lack of information Employment rights

Expanded world view Limited knowledge and skills

below functional threshold

Cognitive life skills

Autonomy Low self-esteem Freedom to remain illiterate

Self-improvement Exclusion Freedom to become literate

Community-based infrastructure

management

Exploitation and lack of social

protection

Interpersonal life skills

Equitable participation Freedom of expression as a basic

human right

Practical application of learning Restriction on religious practice



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Before there was no money — children had no shoes and villagers only knew traditional health practices. People thought illnesswas from evil doings. Bones and roots of plants were used to cureillness. Older people in the village don’t wear shoes — they find

them too uncomfortable. Changes can be observed because villagers know what children need to be healthy, such as wearing shoes. The village elder sets an example to the villagers encouraging them to use clean plates and to keep animals in the shed. People come to his house and they see the smokeless stove. Nowthey have installed smokeless stoves. The result is that people havelearned to make simple improvements in their lives and theyhave better health. (Village health worker, rural Bhutan)

This cross-cutting threshold level of learning in life skills illustrates issues of relativity and generality between traditional and modern practices in definingthresholds. Some mothers had limited knowledge and understanding of basicearly childcare practices, and teenage girls had limited knowledge of adoles-cent girls’ health and hygiene issues. These basic learning outcomes aredifferently perceived by village health workers and village school teachers

with knowledge of modern health practices, compared with someunschooled mothers who had learned only traditional indigenous health practices. The change of mind set (attitude, skills and knowledge) that wouldimprove the lives of villagers in such situations can only be enabled through processes of informal learning in which basic capability — in this case, of lifeskills for improved family health — is identified and thresholds of basic

learning outcome achieved.

Scenarios of basic learning outcome and basic capability

A scenario from the rural Bhutan study illustrates the ways in which basiccapabilities, basic learning outcomes and thresholds of learning can beidentified and analysed:

The father of two school-going teenage children is unschooledhaving had no opportunity to attend school, but he is multi-skilled,

largely self-taught and learned on–the-job. He would have chosen to join the Royal Body Guard as no qualification was required in thosedays when he was in his youth, but his parents did not allow him to

join as he was needed to work on the farm. Now the entry require-ment for this job is a minimum Grade 10 pass. As he believes thatschool learning alone is not enough he is encouraging his childrenlearn from their mother and father. After school the daughter learns

weaving from her mother (unschooled) and the son is learningcarpentry from his father. Weaving and carpentry supplements thefamily subsistence income. He (the father) believes that children

also need to learn practical skills such as house construction, water




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management, electricity wiring and vehicle maintenance, for example. They are given responsibilities according to their age. Hesays it is best if you are multi-skilled. One child wants to start a shopbut the family does not have the money. The father is concerned

that if the family takes a loan and doesn’t know how to manage they will get into trouble.

A similar story from Sri Lanka was told by the mother and father of a 14-year-old Grade 9 girl, both of whom had completed basic education but neither of whom had secure paid employment:

I do some chilli cultivation and spend all the money I earn ondeveloping the vegetable garden. I know how to make cement bricks; I sold milk through a cooperative; I learned paddy cultivation from my parents; a friend taught me to drive a van and basic mechanics; my sisters learned stitching from mother. Nowthe children are busy with studies and have no time to learn any specific skills. We can teach them buying and selling of vegeta- bles. The girls can cook. (Father, completed Grade 11)

Grandmother had a sewing machine. She taught me knitting, stitching and embroidery. Now we don’t have a machine and cannot afford to buy one. I could teach my daughter if I had a sewing machine. When I finished O levels my parents didn’t haveany knowledge of what I should do, so I selected Arts stream. I

studied Arts to A level – there were no job opportunities after Alevel. It’s still the same. The children learn vegetable cultivation from us. My daughter wants to be a doctor but I do not knowwhat she has to do to achieve this (Mother, completed Grade 13)

These and similar scenarios were observed, with individual variation, in anumber of accounts in the Sri Lanka and Bhutan studies. Further analysis andabstraction to a higher level of generalization from these scenarios enablesdescription of indicators of basic capability and basic learning outcome,summarized in Table 3.

The scenarios describe learning of multiple skills beyond school learningthat are of practical value and that are applicable to everyday life, describedas important skills for children to learn. Indicators of basic learning outcomehere include description of the range of practical skills an individual haslearned and uses at a functional level. A generalized basic capability,described in relation to the basic learning outcomes, could be: is able toprovide for the basic needs of the family as an outcome of learning. Thescenarios include indicators of basic capability in the provision of shelter,food, clothing, child protection and future learning opportunity inferredfrom achieved functioning in the basic skills of house construction, farming,

weaving and parenting. Basic learning outcomes identified as important by



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the informants include specialist skills of house construction. These skills areincluded in the dimensions of functional life skills since, in the subsistencerural economies of Bhutan, villagers had no alternative but to build their ownhouses. Specialist skills such as carpentry, masonry, plumbing and basichousehold electrics were essential, with the associated requirement for specialist tools and access rights to local natural resources.

The two scenarios clearly define a range of valued learning opportunitiesillustrating diversity in the sources of learning they describe, all of which arerelevant to the local context. These two scenarios alone, for example, refer-

ence self-learning, on-the-job learning, learning from parents and fromfriends, and school learning. Here the basic learning outcomes in the contextof rural poverty suggest a level of individual and community resourcefulnessin drawing on the strengths and opportunities that exist locally. The basiccapability here could be identified as agency freedom and self-determinationto improve one’s living situation. Interactions with a variety of local knowl-edgeably skilled community-based individuals described by many informantsin the study have the potential to be basic learning opportunities — for exam-ple, the interactions with health workers, agriculture workers and monksthat further illustrate the breadth of basic learning including life skills and

spiritual guidance. The latter has intrinsic value and, depending on individualbelief, may be very important as capability enhancement of well-being andbasic need, but may not be easily conceptualized in terms of developmentstages towards achieved functioning as a basic learning outcome.

Learning choices

The evaluation of basic learning outcome must include analysis of the individ-ual’s range of valued learning choices. Where an individual does not have theopportunity to realize basic learning outcomes as achieved functionings, her

Table 3. Summary of basic capabilities, basic learning outcomes, thresholds of learning and sources of

learning

Basic capabilities Able to provide for the basic needs of the family as an outcome of learning

Provision of shelter, food, clothing, child protection

Individual and community resourcefulness

Agency freedom and self-determination

Basic learning outcomes Application of practical skills and knowledge in house construction, farming,

weaving and parenting

Thresholds of learning Functional skills: carpentry, masonry, plumbing and basic household

electrics

Child-rearing, family health, tailoring and food production

Sources of learning Self-learning, on-the-job learning, learning from parents and from friends, and

school learning

Local knowledgeably skilled community-based individuals: health workers,

agriculture workers and monks




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basic capabilities are restricted. Unless the evaluation investigates thecontext in relation to the outcome, any one of a variety of different factorsmight be the reason behind the apparent failure of the child to achieve afunctional level of basic learning. Without this contextual understanding it is

not possible for policy-makers and service providers to be responsive tofailures in the education system.Capability, in the context of learning outcome, relates to the functional,

cognitive and interpersonal life skills and agency freedom an individual hasacquired to choose actions that improve her life. By definition, basic capabil-ity deprivation includes no choice or negative choice of learning. For exam-ple, no access to school leads to no choice for cognitive life skills learning inthe pursuit of functionally literacy and numeracy for some children in therural Bhutan study who have not had access to school or who had to leaveschool before completing basic education. Access to learning about the

world of crime through coercion is a negative choice for functional life skillslearning, interpersonal life skills learning and agency freedom, observed by some children in the urban Sri Lanka study. Basic capability and basic learn-ing outcome is negatively impacted when lack of information or misinforma-tion leads an individual to make poor choices or to be unaware of the choicesthat could be made. Unschooled informants in the study sample illustratedtheir vulnerabilities in this respect. The example cited above in which parents’ state that they do not know what employment choices their childrenmight have and the related qualification requirements illustrates this vulnera-bility. Parents and unschooled children also indicated a basic capability depri-

vation as lack of self-esteem when they stated that they do not know anything

because they have not been to school. An evaluation of learning outcome should include analysis of negative

as well as positive learning outcomes. Unterhalter (2003) draws attention to vulnerabilities and negative outcomes of school attendance for femalestudents where circumstances expose them to sexual harassment andabuse. Other examples of capability deprivation associated with informallearning include child labour, training of child soldiers, children living insituations of violence and conflict, and black market activities of drugtrafficking and child prostitution, identified as extreme examples of nega-tive learning outcome. Such learning outcomes arise in situations where

social policy and social protection is weak, affecting the most vulnerablegroups, where learning choices are limited and where capability deprivationresults in, and is a result of, lack of informed choice. Such negative learningoutcomes are generally only valued by the most vulnerable in the absenceof other choices, as a consequence of extreme coercion and exploitation.These extreme examples of vulnerability demonstrate the importance of expanding the framework to include evaluation of negative learningoutcome and capability deprivation associated with factors such asinformed choice and entitlement to social protection. The model is thenrealistic and inclusive of all children, not limited only to those who are

learning in a functioning school system.



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In each of these cases of negative or no choice, an analysis of thelearning opportunity as a means through which learning to improve one’s lifeand move out of material or non-material poverty raises several further issues.First, consideration of only one factor provides an incomplete profile of basic

capability, basic learning outcome and improved lives. In the situation of nochoice there was some evidence of other compensatory factors such asinformal livelihood learning opportunities and strong social policy towardslocal community-driven development initiatives, revealed in the Bhutancontext. In the case of learning that leads to crime, the benefits may well takethe individual out of poverty financially but, as socially unacceptable behav-iour, this is a basic capability failure and the learning becomes an agency unfreedom. Second, learning choices and learning outcome can change with time and with new learning opportunity. However, the opportunity topursue cognitive life skills learning through the formal education system isclosed to many children without financial means of support who drop out of the school system or who under-perform at examination stages. Movementout of poverty is not a fixed, one-way path but is a dynamic process of change, both out of and into poverty (Krishna, 2005), which can beinfluenced in various ways by an individual’s basic capability related to basiclearning outcomes.

The mothers of 14-year-old boys attending school in rural Bhutandescribed some real choices children have to face beyond formal basiceducation:

Not everyone will be successful (academically). Some will stay

behind (in the village). In a family of four children one will get a (government) job, two will get private work and one will stayat home. This is the reality. All the children can do farming. The parents will try to find them a small job but if that is not possiblethen they can do farming or choose to become a monk. (Mothersof school boys, rural Bhutan, Group 4)

The general consensus from children in the sample was that return to the village after school completion was not a favoured option. However, thealternative choices are limited and land ownership provides one significantmeasure of freedom for children in rural Bhutan.1

Education is important but if they [children attending school] don’t achieve then farming is their livelihood. (Unschooled reli-gious leader/parent, rural Bhutan)

This contrasts with the situation in the Sri Lankan sample of contract labour-ers who were on daily pay with tied housing, which restricted individual free-doms and was therefore a negative capability factor impacting on basic

learning outcomes.




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Children who live in the [tea estate] lines [houses] all live together with the family in one room and a separate kitchen. There is no space. Small children and older children all see how the parentsbehave and then they bring the problems to school. (Teachers,

rural Sri Lanka)

These examples begin to describe the combination of generality andindividuality of learning choice relating to individual circumstances, and theimpact of this on basic capability and basic learning outcomes. Basic capabil-ity enhancement includes learning choices that have the potential to improvethe individual’s life but that may or may not be chosen. Whether a learningopportunity is chosen or not, a capability indicator is the element of freedomof ‘informed choice’ and a threshold level of ‘sufficient choice’ to achieve ineach aspect of basic learning.

It may be possible to develop individual or community profiles of basiccapability, basic learning outcome and thresholds of learning underpinned by the range of informed choice available to individuals. This would providepolicy-makers with information on learning outcomes that is generally notavailable, indicating the ways in which approaches to learning might be modi-fied towards improving the capability of individuals to improve their lives. Theprofile would also be able to describe different combinations of functional lifeskills learning, cognitive life skills learning, interpersonal life skills learning andagency freedom corresponding to the range of choice. Each child’s real learn-ing choices are dependent on a range of factors, including equitable accessto opportunities through which to acquire practical knowledge and skills, the

characteristics of available learning opportunities, availability of resources for teaching and learning, and individual disposition towards the pursue of onelearning opportunity or another. Each of these factors is influenced by socialpolicy commitment and social policy enactment, which impacts on individualentitlement. Each of these choice factors could be included in an evaluationframework as part of a profile of learning environments and learners.

Conclusion: learning and improved quality of life

The analysis outlined in this paper provides insight into the influence of social policy on basic capabilities and basic learning outcomes for those wholive below a threshold level of learning opportunity. Several considerationsare necessary in developing this work further. First, the most relevant basiclearning outcomes have to be identified, which vary between groups andbetween individuals, reflecting generalities and diversity relating to localcontext. Second, the range of choice for each learner needs to be considered,including no choice, informed choice, and threshold levels of sufficientchoice. Third, positive and negative outcomes of learning as basic capability enhancement and deprivation have to be included in the evaluation. Fourth,capability-based evaluation analysis provides information to complement




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basic capabilities, basic learning outcomes and thresholds of learning

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