Capabilities Approach

Disrupting gendered mindsets

Inspiring girls to expand their horizons.

Walker’s Capabilities Approach equips students with the skills, confidence, and agency to lead lives of meaning and impact. It nurtures in every student the idea that they have value in their own right; and ultimately have a responsibility to share that value with their community.

The Capabilities Approach offers a different way of thinking about learning beyond the traditional curriculum. The capabilities represent a constellation of skills, interwoven and building on each other, with the end goal being functional mastery of each skill. The acquisition of these capabilities helps our students develop resiliency as they strive to achieve baseline proficiency in these areas, with some capabilities requiring greater stretching of limits than others.

An approach inspired by our founder’s foresight

Ethel Walker envisioned a dynamic world where young women are inspired to cherish lifelong learning. Her vision has been nurtured throughout the years and helped to shape Walker’s Capabilities Approach. Conceived by Nobel Laureate economist and philosopher Amartya Sen, “The Capability Approach” empowers individuals to pursue the things they value most in life. It is used by the United Nations to measure human development and by experts worldwide to improve human well-being. Walker’s Capabilities Approach is an adaptation of this global program, tailored to the needs of girls today. It ignites a sense of purpose in each student and prepares them to enter the world confidently, ready to lead the way.

Four Ways Our Students Experience Capabilities

Seminar Courses

As key part of our academic program, these courses are required for graduation. They empower students to think beyond limits, break barriers, and to question stereotypes about what they can achieve.

In The Classroom

Every day, we nurture the philosophy of Capabilities with care and compassion. We focus on preparing for presentations and public speaking, fostering teamwork, choosing bravery over perfection, cultivating emotional intelligence, and being champions of social justice.

Lacuna

Throughout this special week each winter, students immerse themselves by teaching and learning outside our traditional academic program. Past subjects have included Forensic Crime Analysis, Chemistry of Cooking, Exploring Archaeology, Art Restoration, Game Design, Sports Psychology, and more.

Co-Curricular Activities

Key co-curriculars including Swimming, Self-Defense, and First Aid provide our graduates with foundational skills that enable them to step into the world with confidence.

Support Walker's Capabilities Approach
Make a Gift

In Their Words

Walker's Capabilities Approach is an amazing aspect of our school that brings us together as a community

—Ella H. '26

Fluencies

Rhetorical: Walker’s students learn to speak in front of groups and make presentations with confidence, then showcase their abilities in a Senior Speech that is presented to the entire school.

Fluencies

Digital: With a holistic digital education, our students learn cyber civility, awareness, and safety through the Digital Citizenship Seminar, and foundational coding skills through the Coding Seminar and integration of coding with academics.

Fluencies

Financial: Our students gain immersive experiences that include investing real money in the stock market and managing a portion of our Endowment Portfolio. They also become IRS-Certified Tax Preparers who take part in the Volunteer Income.

Discoveries

Global Experience: Travel takes Walker’s students across the globe through student exchange programs in Jordan, Australia, and Switzerland, course related travel in Panama, and department trips to other countries, including Portugal, Spain, France, and England.

Discoveries

Sustenance and Sustainability: Through our Seminars, Sustainability Clubs, and Climate Science courses, Walker’s students gain a better understanding of climate change and its effects, and nurture their own well-being outdoors.

Discoveries

Internships: Through our alumnae network, our students have the opportunity to be part of transformative summer internship experiences right after graduation. This real world learning provides an invaluable way for girls to continue on their path to a promising future.

Agencies

Self-Defense: Staying safe matters. We teach our girls self-defense in both our College Prep Seminar and Wellness Workshops.

Agencies

First Aid: Our students become Red Cross Certified in First Aid, CPR, and AED (Automated External Defibrillator).

Agencies

Swimming: Walker’s girls learn to become proficient swimmers by passing the Red Cross Swim Test and earning their Lifeguard Certification.

Self-Selected Capability

In this capstone seminar of our Capabilities Approach, students choose what they want to learn, design a learning plan, master it, and then teach it, sharing it with others during our winter Lacuna program.

By graduation, every Walker's student will...

  • Be legally certified by the IRS as a tax preparer
  • Become Red Cross certified in First Aid, CPR, AED, and Lifeguarding
  • Manage a stock portfolio of $1,000 over three years
  • Manage a portion of the School’s endowment
  • Complete a self-defense course
  • Present a personal narrative to the entire school community in the form of a senior speech and formal publication