Physical Literacy Matter(s): An Ontological Reframing of Ambient Conditions

By Gillian Bartle, IPLA Research Lead

Durden-Myers, L. and Pushkarenko, K., 2026. Physical Literacy Matter(s): An Ontological Reframing of Ambient Conditions, Quest. DOI: 10.1080/00336297.2026.2723154

Physical literacy (PL) has become increasingly visible across education, sport, recreation, health, and policy, yet greater visibility has not always made the concept easier to understand. Durden-Myers and Pushkarenko suggest that the challenge is not primarily a lack of theory, but a problem of articulation: PL is often described through professional language that can distance it from ordinary movement experiences that are lived. They therefore reframe PL as an “ambient condition of embodied life” (p. 2), encouraging us to think of PL less as a label and more as a lens for understanding our relationship with movement.

To make this idea more accessible, the authors use a play on the word ‘matter’. Physical literacy matters because movement shapes how people experience themselves and the world around them. PL can also be thought about through the metaphor of matter. Just as matter can exist in different states while retaining continuity, PL can be expressed differently across people and circumstances without losing the commitments that give it meaning.

The three states of matter each represent a different function of PL. The solid state reflects its philosophical integrity: PL is embodied, holistic, relational, individually meaningful, and lifelong. The liquid state reflects its adaptive, context-sensitive expression across bodies, environments, histories, cultures, and life stages. The gaseous state reflects PL’s ambient and often unnamed presence in everyday life – present, but not always easy to see or describe. Importantly, these are not developmental stages, but interconnected ways of understanding the same phenomenon.

This framing reinforces that PL is not an outcome or destination. It is an ongoing, non-linear process that changes as people encounter different environments, relationships, opportunities, constraints, injury, disability, ageing, illness, and changing priorities. Movement experiences may expand, narrow, pause, or be reconfigured; these changes alter the conditions through which PL is expressed rather than signalling exclusion on the basis of a predetermined PL pathway or expected form of expression.

For PL to connect with more people, the language used to describe it must be accessible without becoming simplistic. The authors describe language as a “gateway between lived embodiment and conceptual understanding” (p. 9) and identify four overlapping forms of access:

The iceberg model brings these ideas together. The iceberg represents PL’s stable philosophical core, the water its context-sensitive expression, the air its diffuse and often unnamed presence, and the wider ecosystem the people, communities, cultures, institutions, and environments through which movement is experienced. Recognition, relevance, and resonance are central: people can recognise PL in experiences they already have, see its relevance to their circumstances, and find enough resonance for the concept to become meaningful.

This is also important for inclusion. A fluid understanding of PL resists assumptions that there is one ideal body, one typical developmental pathway, or one preferred way of moving. If PL is understandable only to those fluent in academic, professional, or policy language, it risks reproducing the exclusions it seeks to challenge. Accessibility is not a dilution of PL’s philosophical integrity, but part of making it meaningful across diverse lives and contexts.

Everyday activities such as gardening, cycling to work, climbing stairs, shovelling snow, walking with family, adapting after injury, or finding a route that feels safe can reveal PL in action. Physical literacy does not belong only to teachers, coaches, researchers, or policy makers; it is woven into ordinary life. The challenge is not simply to make more people use the term, but to communicate PL in ways that help people recognise and value the movement relationships they are already living. PL may already be all around us – our task is to help make it visible.

Figure 1 Image generated by G Bartle on AI Microsoft Co-pilot.