In this paper we explore how 'ability' is currently conceptualised in physical education and with what effects for different groups of young people. We interrogate approaches to theorizing ability in physical education that draw on sociological and phenomenological 'foundations' together with notions of ability as 'physical' and 'cultural capital' drawn from the work of Bourdieu. We also look to data we and others have collected across a number of empirical projects to ask: where do we find talk about what we might identify as 'ability' in the context of physical education and sport; how is it talked about? and in what ways might this further our thinking of the meaning of 'ability' in physical education and school based sport? Our findings suggest that physical ability is far from a neutral concept and that how it is understood has important consequences for young people in relation to gender, race and social class. We argue that ongoing discussions around what we mean by ability, how we use it, and in relation to whom, are crucial in physical education where organized sport, recreation and exercise remain privileged over other constituents of physical culture.3

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The expansion of health as a concept, repeated expressions of nationwide concerns about young people’s health, and the accompanying information explosion about health and fitness have worked together to support versions of physical education that explicitly address health issues. The conflation of health with physical education, however, is not without problems. This paper explores some consequences of the relationship between health, fitness, and physical activity through an examination of students’ responses to questions relating to health and fitness in the New Zealand National Education Monitoring Project. The children responding to the NEMP tasks were very familiar with the relationship between physical activity, fitness, and health. While this seems to point to the efficacy of physical and health education programs, the ways in which these children seem to have accepted this relationship with a great deal of certainty does not necessarily contribute to their health and well-being but rather suggests an acceptance of discourses that are associated with guilt, the self-monitoring of the body, and which seem to deny the pleasure that can be associated with physical activity.

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Objective To investigate New Zealand children’s understandings of ‘health’. Design Secondary analysis of student responses to a task called ‘Being Healthy’ in New Zealand’s National Education Monitoring Project. Setting Year 4 (8—9 year-old) and Year 8 (12—13 year-old) students who took part in New Zealand’s National Education Monitoring for Health and Physical Education in 2002. Method Coding of student responses using NVivo qualitative analysis package. Results Students reiterated messages widely promulgated in popular and professional mediums. Students predominantly conceived of health as a corporeal matter, citing eating, exercise and hygiene practices as the most important health promoting behaviours. Conclusion Students could usefully be encouraged to adopt socially critical understandings of what health might entail and broader, more holistic conceptualizations of health beyond matters of the ‘body’ alone.

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