Unless you have spent the last few months hiding under a rock, you will probably have come across talk about oracy in education. Prime minister Keir Starmer raised it around the election and we now have an Oracy Education Commission, headed up by the eminent Geoff Barton.
The commission will soon report on “the aims and purpose of oracy education in school and propose a blueprint for how an entitlement to effective oracy education can be delivered as part of a child’s statutory education”.
I know that there are many great people involved in the review and they will be exploring what it means in detail, but it is important that we, as teachers, start to consider what oracy means for us within our subjects. In order to do so, we need to understand what oracy is and what it isn’t.
Oracy education
English is one of the few areas of the national curriculum with firm guidance on spoken communication. From early years and key stage 1, there is a sharp focus on language and communication, and creating opportunities for pupils to speak, listen and learn about the different conventions of talk.
There is an understanding that this is part of the social aspect of their education, as well as being linked to academic performance.
But this focus is less sharp in other areas and becomes even less so as pupils move up through school.
That is why it’s important to think about what they need to know and have modelled, as well as when and how they will revisit this knowledge and practise it.
Spoken language is no more “caught” than reading and writing. It needs to be made explicit, to be practised and checked.
Just as with reading and writing, though, there will be crossover between subjects, and that is where there needs to be consideration of what this actually looks like, and where and when the opportunities present themselves.
That’s not to say that we need to be shoehorning spoken language opportunities into every science lesson or that everyone has to do a presentation in maths. But there are benefits to being aware of when and where such moments can happen, to ensure that pupils have a wide range of opportunities to apply their spoken language learning, much as we do with reading.
In English, the study of spoken language becomes more formalised again as pupils progress, and the study of great (and perhaps not so great) speeches and presentations can help them to understand what it is they want to emulate and what they want to discard.
They need to learn about ways to appeal to different audiences and how to use this to achieve different aims.
Mapping the journey of spoken language
Much as with the study of theatrical performance, spoken language is about more than what is on the page. It means thinking about how speakers create emphasis through the use of pauses, expression and gesture, helping pupils to understand the nuance of how spoken language works. And this understanding can be applied across all subjects.
Ultimately, creating a curriculum that maps the journey pupils take with spoken language more clearly will help to ensure that more of them are secure in the knowledge of how to use it effectively.
A curriculum for spoken language doesn’t have to be pages long or have the same level of depth as the guidance around reading. Spoken language is more organic than that and perhaps has more in common with the early years curriculum.
But we still need to think carefully about the language and vocabulary we want our young people to have. This will be an important step towards ensuring that all pupils can develop their spoken language and use it effectively in the world.
Zoe Enser is the school improvement lead for a trust in the North West of England
For the latest research, pedagogy and classroom advice, sign up for our weekly Teaching Essentials newsletter
