ABSTRACT
Ability is a term that is widely employed within the education community, in a manner that appears to assume its enduring and inherent constitution. Evans and Penney (2008) noted that the performative culture of contemporary neoliberal education systems has been particularly influential in positioning ability as a measurable entity with definable and discriminating properties. The intersections between ability and measurement are most acutely observable in the pursuit of meritocratic standardised assessment regimes that purport to capture and recognise the inherent ‘abilities’ of students. Belief in even the plausibility of a meritocratic assessment regime is informed by a particular view of ability. Clearly, one’s perspective on ability has an impact on ‘how the purpose of schools, the educability and achievement potential of students, the role of teachers, the curriculum that is offered, and the manner in which it is offered is viewed’ (Hay and Macdonald 2010: 1). The way in which abilities are conceived of, sanctioned, measured and conferred on students in subjects such as PE has a notable impact on how individual students are valued in those subjects by teachers and other students, how students view themselves and their own educational potential, and how willing students are to learn and pursue recognition for that learning in education fields. Of course, discourses of ability circulating through schooling seep into other social spheres such as family, and these (re)produce the meanings and values afforded to the abilities of students within and beyond the education community. In particular, it should be recognised that for young people PE is one of a number of sites of practices involving physical culture (including physical activity, exercise, sport and recreation) and each informs how bodily practices and associated abilities are valued. Whilst this chapter focuses on a PE context, it should therefore be recognised that it is these broader sites of physical culture that also need to be explored if we are to better understand how ability is imposed, pursued, and acquired.
