ABSTRACT
In this chapter I raise questions about the commonsense concept of ability, to trace its origins, and to look at the implications for teachers today. What do we mean to talk about a child’s ability? The dictionary defines ability as cleverness, talent or mental power. When we speak of a child’s ability are we describing some kind of inborn intelligence, a genetic inheritance? How do teachers know how to assess a child’s ability? Can children be labelled bright or slow? Why is it that the newer models of assessment avoid the term ability and choose instead to focus on attainment? Of course, the fact that we have such words as ability or intelligence, as with the unicorn, does not mean that such things have to exist. But while the terms may not be real they can, and do, create labels that have a significant impact on how people see themselves and how they are seen by others.
