*Article* **Research on the Development of Equitable Education in China from the Human Capability Perspective**

**Mingmei Li †, Min Liu †, Hejia Wang, Xiaohan Hong and Chen Wang \***

Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

**\*** Correspondence: wangchen@bnu.edu.cn

† These authors contributed equally to this work.

**Abstract:** "Capability" is an important conceptual tool for addressing educational inequity (EI). This paper analyzes the existing limitations of developing educational equity in China from the human capital perspective and proposes the human capability approach as a way to improve it. This paper begins by a policy review on China's education equity measures, revealing a troubling emphasis on resources allocation and a "top-down" governance. In response, we propose an actionable research approach as a means to improve multi-stakeholder collaboration in educational equity reform and to further the development of student capabilities. The study also presents a case study to illustrate the process of using "capability" and actionable research methods to promote educational equity, demonstrating the necessity and effectiveness. We also note that education inequality is a delicate and complicated topic that requires joint, flexible and innovative efforts.

**Keywords:** capability; equitable inequality (EI); equitable education (EE); actionable research; LFCF

Under the influence of Knowledge Economy, the pursuit of economic values of education not only solidifies the neglect of human subjectivity in educational reforms, but also aggravates educational inequality. China's recent mainstream approach to equitable education (EE) development in poverty-stricken areas is to "empower" the poor through education, making them talented workers, and in return promote local economic development. For example, the difference in education level between regions is often regarded as one of the most important manifestations of the income gap between urban and rural areas in China [1]. In addition, it is widely accepted that promoting balanced development in education between regions is going to help narrow the income gap between regions [2]. However, we believe that education should not regard people as economic tools, and human capability development is the fundamental purpose of education. Hence, education policies guided by human capital theory play a limited role in solving educational inequality. Therefore, we need to complement a theory of education that has human capability development at its core. How should this theory be applied in practice to improve educational inequity? Considering actionable research conforms to the norms of both qualitative and quantitative research and seeks to identify unequal phenomena and their causes in society and education, we try to combine the human capability approach with actionable research, developing new theoretical perspectives and applied frameworks.
