Question: "I think that’s what it means to be “real” as a parent or a teacher – to be vulnerable, to be capable of being hurt. The only way to avoid the pain of vulnerability is by shutting out all emotion and becoming cold, uncaring, heartless and selfish."

Above is a quote from headmaster's newsletter. In the text, can "to be capable of being hurt" mean "to be able to be hurt"? 

Actually, I didn't think about the possibility. I interpreted it as "susceptible to being hurt" especially because of the previous word "vulnerable".

But my colleague (who spent most of her school years in an English-speaking environment) claimed that it was supposed to mean "to be able to be hurt" as a kind of ability, and that it shouldn't be viewed as a passive attitude. 

Aside from the context, is this usage common? For me, it sounds really awkward that someone has a kind of ability to get hurt. It sounds as strange as being able to die."

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. I am definitely not a native English speaker.

Answer: 
I think the second sentence of your quotation establishes the context in which your colleague properly regards “vulnerable” and “capable of being hurt” as active capacities rather than passive susceptibilities.

> 
> The only way to avoid the pain of vulnerability is by shutting out all emotion and becoming cold, uncaring, heartless and selfish.
> 
> 
> 

The headmaster intends the phrase (and your colleague understands it) as an ability to discard, willingly, the emotional and intellectual “armor” which protects you from the pain of emotional engagement with the sufferings of others. We often speak of its inverse as an ***in***ability to empathize.
Yes, 

"**capable of** being hurt" 

can have the meaning of 

"**predisposed to/susceptible to** being hurt":

> 
> **ca·pa·ble** adjective
> 
> 
> 5 : **marked by or possessed of a predisposition to : having**
> **characteristics or personality traits conducive to or admitting of** —
>  used postpositively with *of* 
> 
> 
> *all who are capable of absorption in an inward passion* — Bertrand Russell 
> 
> 
> *this woman is capable of murder by violence* — Robert Graves 
> 
> 
> *a grace and dexterity of which no common maid is capable* — Lafcadio Hearn
> 
> 
> Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary
> 
> 
> 

However, mind the different

"capable of **feeling** **pain/[hurt]**"