Being ‘able’ in a performative culture: Physical education’s contribution to a healthy interest in sport?

How ‘ability’ is configured within physical education practices in schools reflects distributions of authority in society, the nature of power and principles of social control. Definitions of ‘ability’ are neither arbitrary nor immutable, and what counts as success and achievement changes over time. Although ‘ability’ is always configured in relation to class and gender, these features are often disguised within school cultures attempting to privilege equal opportunities, though historically deeply embedded in education policies and practices. As such, they tend to define the cultural fabric and thinking and action of teachers and pupils. In this discussion we examine the environments created by recent policies relating to PE and health (PEH) and how they influence teachers’ and young people’s understandings of ‘ability’. Such policies increasingly determine dispositions recognised, endorsed and valued as ‘ability’, or valid forms of ‘cultural capital’ in PEH.