The ability trap: reductionist theorising about academic ability and the ramifications for education policy and school-based practice

Mazzoli Smith, L.D.

Abstract

The paper argues that there is a reductive logic inherent in conceptualisations of academic ability in some Western education research as currently configured. Effective interrogation of this concept necessitates consideration across relevant fields of research, as outlined in three areas of critique: that research on educational stratification can adopt a contradictory stance with respect to conceptualising academic ability and defer to innate cognitive ability in pupil test data while denouncing this elsewhere; that cultural reproduction theory is itself a powerful social construction with ramifications for the possibility of equal learning opportunities for all; and that a narrow focus on educational stratification reifies instrumental outcomes, devaluing some of the broader purposes of education. It is argued that these reductive tendencies have ramifications for education policy and school-based practices. A lack of focus on, and clarity about, the concept of academic ability warrants more holistic conceptualising, which draws on methodological pluralism.

Citation

Mazzoli Smith, L. (2021). The ability trap: reductionist theorising about academic ability and the ramifications for education policy and school-based practice. Cambridge Journal of Education, 51(1), 85-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764x.2020.1782351

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 10, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Aug 3, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Aug 11, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 12, 2020
• Journal: Cambridge Journal of Education
• Print ISSN: 0305-764X
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-3577
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 85-103
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764x.2020.1782351
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1294959