Opinion with Jo Arrow

Teachers all over the country have been holding their breath, waiting for a shift in the education system. We weren’t sure how or where this change would come from or what it would involve, but we knew it was coming.

The recent Oracy Commission Report calls for this change – it outlines exactly what the change should be and why it needs to happen now. It is the most exciting and useful piece of research I have read recently, and it gives me hope for the future of children’s education. The report states that there is: ‘support for an education in which oracy is a core concern alongside literacy and numeracy. Parents want it, the economy demands it, democracy needs it, teachers welcome it and our children deserve it.’ We know that a meaningful oracy education for students has speaking and listening as part of the very fabric of a school. In order for the change outlined in the commission to take place, it can’t be English and Drama practitioners alone who drive it: it’s our collective responsibility.