The ability to communicate – to have the emotional, linguistic and cognitive skills to express yourself and to engage with others – is critical. It is critical to individual potential, both professionally and personally, and it is increasingly critical to society at large.
Much research has been done to illustrate the causal relationship between spoken communication initiatives and the improvement of educational outcomes, and employers have repeatedly highlighted it as one of the most important skills needed by our future workforce. In addition, in an increasingly connected yet polarised world, being able to advocate well for yourself and for your community with empathy and with critical thinking is crucial for a more cohesive, harmonious society.
All of this seems so obvious as to be barely worth remarking upon, yet in recent times the notion of explicitly teaching these skills has been questioned and deprioritised within education policy and popular opinion.
Refreshingly, recent developments signal that things are beginning to shift. This week the publication of We Need to Talk, a report from The Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, marks an important moment in the discourse around oracy and its role in the lives of our young people.
The Commission’s Report is wide-ranging and expansive, addressing all stages of formal schooling and the many ways in which oracy can and should feature in education. It calls for young people to have better access to, and inclusion in, high quality oracy opportunities. The evidence showing the profound impact that teaching oracy has on the outcomes of young people, particularly those who experience disadvantage and/or who are very young, cannot be ignored. For those of us in the oracy space, this is very familiar, and for years we have been striving to ensure our work and research reaches those who need it most. At the English-Speaking Union, we have seen countless times how profoundly impactful and life-changing oracy education can be, developing confidence and building skills for life. Our alumni network and dedicated team of expert volunteers is a testament to this, showcasing just how transformative oracy education of the kind described in We Need To Talk can be.
Within its core arguments, We Need To Talk defines ‘oracy education’ as having three overlapping dimensions that support children and young people to learn to talk, to learn through talk and to learn about talk. This holistic approach is fundamental in equipping students with vital communication skills that are essential for success, and at the ESU we witness students’ remarkable ability to seamlessly navigate these dimensions when they take part in our programmes. For example, a participant in one of our long standing debating or public speaking competitions must listen to and engage with the speeches of others (team-mates and opponents), consider the most effective response and deliver it with the expression and performance that is most appropriate, all while considering the judging criteria being used to assess the success of those choices. Students who have learned to talk effectively, through talking with others, about effective communication will be much more likely to succeed in our competitions and indeed in the wider world.
The report also advocates for an ‘oracy entitlement’ throughout a child’s education. The commissioners argue that children should be given frequent opportunities to engage in four ‘modes of talk’: (i) building understanding, (ii) debating and persuading; (iii) negotiating and making change; (iv) expressing and performing. Whilst each of these modes of talk can be identified in the programmes we offer at the ESU, the people most able to make the most meaningful change to the most students, are teachers. We have to accept that we need to support teachers to foster these critical communication skills in as many moments in the classroom and school life as possible. The Report argues this, and the ESU agrees;
“Teachers need to be equipped with the knowledge and skill required to support all students to learn to, through and about talk, listening and communication through professional learning from initial teacher training to leadership development. This cannot be confined to a one-off course or inset day for teachers with a particular interest in oracy.”
It is absolutely correct that oracy should be developed in the practice of all teachers, not a select few who are tasked with it as a specialism. Through our work, the ESU has seen that oracy development is most effective where there is a holistic, whole school approach to it, where the school’s leadership promotes its value and creates constant, multimodal opportunities for young people to engage with it. Our CPD programme provides a flexible series of whole-school sessions with ongoing, wraparound support for school leaders seeking to upskill all their staff and develop a holistic oracy strategy in their schools in ways that are practical and easy to implement. It’s clear to us from delivering these sessions that teachers welcome the support, yet within crowded calendars and ever-tighter budgets, leaders in education are struggling to find the space for this sort of training, even though they understand its value. Providers – including charities like the ESU – must meet schools ‘where they are’ and offer flexibility that can support a range of different timetables and budgets. However, meaningful support and resourcing must also flow from government policy.
The ESU looks forward to the outcomes of the curriculum and assessment review, undertaken by Prof Becky Francis and her colleagues. We hope it will support many of the recommendations the Commission makes for oracy and that this in turn will support the government to help leaders in education prioritise oracy in their settings.
It is clear that for the Government there is much to do and an overwhelming number of urgent priorities, both in education and beyond. However, we would encourage leaders in the Department of Education to keep the focus on making oracy a priority – young people and their futures depend upon it.
We Need To Talk: read the full report here.
Written by Louisa Searle, Director of Education for the English-Speaking Union.
Published in Teachwire Secondary.
