A capabilities approach to student experiences of pedagogy, power and well-being at a South African university

English: Persistent educational, economic and social inequalities in South Africa perpetuate patterns of unequal access and participation for a significant number of university students. In particular, many first-generation, working-class and African students are positioned precariously within institutions, and have fewer opportunities to convert academic resources into successful outcomes. In response to these structural constraints, the study investigates undergraduate student experiences of pedagogical and institutional arrangements at a historically advantaged South African university. The study is guided by the following research question: Given the structural inequalities within universities, how could pedagogical and institutional arrangements enable first-generation students to convert available resources into the capability for equal participation? The research problem is informed by the assumption that having access to higher education does not mean that individuals have the freedom to participate in an equitable way, or to achieve the same outcomes. The research problem informed the design of four research questions: 1. How do structural conditions at school, in the family, and the community enable and constrain the conversion of resources into capabilities for equal participation? 2. How do pedagogical and institutional arrangements at university constrain the conversion of resources into capabilities for equal participation? 3. How do pedagogical and institutional arrangements at university enable the conversion of resources into capabilities for equal participation? 4. How could student experiences be used as evidence to inform the design of capability praxis for equal participation? The study is situated within a transformative paradigm, where qualitative methods are applied to track the experiences of eight undergraduate university students over a period of two years. I collected qualitative data using a number of narrative research tools, including in-depth interviews, focus groups and digital stories. Another aspect of data collection was involving students as co-researchers in the study, in order to draw on student voices to shed light on the complexities underlying unequal participation. The theoretical framework used to conduct the research integrated Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum’s capability approach with critical social theory. The capability approach is a multidimensional approach that I used to evaluate the comparative opportunities for participation available to the research participants. The capability approach offers an egalitarian evaluation of the individual consequences of inequality, while retaining a focus on the agency and resources that students bring to higher education. Based on this framework, I make the argument that unequal participation is a remediable injustice that can be partially addressed by creating enabling arrangements for capability development. The outcome of the data analysis is a capability-informed praxis, in which I propose and defend six capabilities as a pedagogical response to inequalities identified in the student data. These capabilities are listed below: 1. Practical reason 2. Critical literacies 3. Student research 4. Deliberative participation 5. Critical affiliation 6. Values for the public good The capability-informed praxis conceptualized equal participation on a spectrum where on the one end, equality is defined as access to the resources and opportunities needed to achieve valued outcomes aligned with student capabilities, agency and aspirations. On the other end of the spectrum, unequal participation refers to students who are vulnerable to drop out, face resource scarcity, and do not have sustained access to pedagogical or institutional arrangements that enable them to convert available resources into equal participation. I conclude the study with recommendations that could expand opportunities for equal participation for undergraduate students at the university.