To many people, the term oracy might be unfamiliar. It was coined by Andrew Wilkinson, a British researcher and educator, in the 1960s, to draw attention to the lack of focus on spoken language skills in education compared to literacy or numeracy. One of the greatest barriers to students getting on in life is a lack of eloquence, and employers consistently put good oral communication skills at the top of their list of requirements. The drama classroom is clearly a natural place to find dialogic teaching and most drama teachers instinctively understand the importance of oral communication skills. But how can we encourage all teachers to embrace the benefits of talk-based activities?
Over the last few years, there has been a resurgence of interest in oracy, particularly in the light of recent research which suggests that students who are explicitly taught spoken language skills perform better in Maths, Science and reasoning tests. However, the fact remains that in the vast majority of schools it is unusual to find a teacher who has formal responsibility for oracy, and only a minority of teachers have received training or professional development in this area. To address this deficit, Voice 21 developed the Oracy Leaders Programme to help teachers gain the expertise needed to lead change in schools.
I first became interested in oracy after attending a TeachMeet at Highbury Grove School in north London about four years ago. The director of spoken literacy at Highbury, Andrew Fitch, outlined how the school had introduced a public speaking competition – this was a model that I was keen to try out in my own setting. Following on from this I developed the Soapbox Challenge where every student in Year 8 writes and delivers a three-minute speech on a topic they feel passionate about. At my school this project is undertaken during form time and tutors guide pupils to learn about effective public speaking and develop their presentation skills. All students deliver a speech to their form and the best three speakers from each group go forward into the final competition, where students speak in front of the whole year group and specially invited guests. This has proved to be a great success among staff and pupils and is now firmly established as an annual event in the school calendar.
Back to school
The Oracy Leaders Programme began last September with a two-day residential course at Cambridge University to introduce us to the theory and research behind oracy, and to explore teaching strategies, approaches and techniques. Following this initial introduction, we were encouraged to complete an oracy audit of our own schools and to begin to formulate a whole school action plan. I felt that at my own school we were already doing quite well in terms of presentational talk, with a number of debating and public speaking activities on offer to students. I was particularly interested in how I could develop exploratory talk in the classroom across the whole school.
Over the course of the year there were opportunities to observe oracy in action through visits to a number of different schools, such as School 21 in East London who have designed a curriculum which places oracy at the heart of all subjects. It was fascinating to observe the way assemblies were conducted, with students sat in-the-round and with an emphasis on pupil talk rather than the more traditional teacher-led sermonising that is usually heard.
Participating in the programme gave me the confidence to lead whole-school staff training, and one of my greatest successes was modelling a Year 7 science lesson on anti-bacterial resistance using dialogical teaching strategies – not something I could have imagined doing beforehand! I also undertook an oracy-based research project within drama. This intervention looked at how oracy strategies could improve the quality of peer feedback.
As I reflect on the past academic year I feel like I'm still very much at the start of a long journey. Change often happens slowly and incrementally in education and there is still more work to be done to truly embed oracy across my school. However, participating in the Oracy Leaders Programme has given me a new sense of purpose and drive. It was an inspiring course which really reinvigorated my teaching practice and allowed me to develop my whole school leadership abilities in collaboration with a network of teachers from across the UK.
To find out more about oracy, visit voice21.org where you can find a number of free teaching resources, as well as details of how to enrol for the Oracy Pioneers and Oracy Leaders programmes.