ABSTRACT
This chapter concludes the book. It shows that the realist-capability model allows for a paradigmatic shift in how we understand, evaluate and orientate VET which results in different questions being asked – questions related to human development rather than human resource development – and insists that students previously excluded are given a voice both in the answering of these questions and in shaping (or reimagining) a transformed VET system. The findings challenge the deficit models and negative stereotypes of VET students that have dominated much of the literature. Rather, and framed by the realist-capability model, the findings suggest that VET should be preparing learners to live the life that they have reason to value, which certainly includes work and the employability to achieve it, but is not limited to it. Equally as important, and central for developing contexts, is the desire that VET students express to contribute to their communities and to their country more broadly.
