Incorporating a Political-Economy Orientation to VET’s Project-Based Learning Methodologies for Sustainable Development

Abstract

From a capability approach, the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) component of the global agenda for sustainable development represents a major tool for cultivating the equitable agency capacity of individuals to participate in the labor market and to rethink their reality in and out of work, modify it, and make it more suitable to their desired development scenario.

In this sense, some teachers use project-based learning methodologies to show their students how to formulate and put development alternatives into practice. This introduces students to the experiences of agents of change and active development initiatives.

This chapter seeks to contribute to these efforts by sharing some conclusions drawn from an empirical research on development initiatives in different countries. They concern some of the challenges and constraints that these initiatives face to be sustainable, as well as the strategies that they use to confront such challenges.

These reflections which teachers could incorporate into their project-based learning methodologies place special emphasis on political-economic factors that influence how objectives are defined and how the development agenda is implemented. We analyze factors that influence the decision-making process, power relations, and the potential of each individual or group to implement and negotiate their initiatives under conditions of equity.