Stephen Mitchell

To start – this is nothing more than my thoughts based on some reading around the topic of oracy.  It is by no means an expert opinion and it should not be treated as such.  I am exploring my own developing understanding of this as part of my doctorate research.

I might be a touch late to this party, but as I’m getting deeper in my doctoral study, I am narrowing down on two areas of significant interest: the bridge between the arts, oracy and privilege.

For the purpose of clarity, I am defining oracy as the ability to speak fluently and coherently: effective speech. The phrase was actually (we think) first used by Andrew Wilkinson in the 1960s. It was developed to be used alongside the terms ‘literacy’ and ‘numeracy’; drawing attention to the neglect of oral skills in the education at the time.

As teachers, we all know that children being able to use their voice effectively is important; as a profession, we wouldn’t argue with that.  However, just in case you’re unsure as to why it is so important… here are some statistics as a starter:

• Good (or effective) communication is linked with strong academic outcomes, there is a range of studies to support this (English Speaking Union, Better Communication Research Programme, The Communication Trust, Dialogic Teaching Study: EEF).
• Voice 21 have concluded that oracy improves all aspects of literacy teaching; alongside playing an important role in cognitive development (children interpreting the world around them).
• There is evidence to suggest that, where disadvantage is concerned, oracy can be used to support accelerated progress.  In the case of this comment, it is particularly focused around social and emotional learning, which the English Speaking Union consider debate and public speaking a key component of. 

As adults, it is easy for us to recognise the importance of being able to communicate clearly – the Sutton trust citing that almost 90% of employers consider life skills (including communication) as, or more, important than academic qualifications.  If we step back and consider when and how this is taught in schools, it can be quite challenging to pinpoint.  I know that we encourage self-expression across our curriculum; discussion and presentation opportunities feature regularly across a child’s time in our school.  But can we honestly say that we teach children how to communicate clearly?  Do we have a curriculum for oracy that extends past EYFS?  In the vast majority of schools, I believe the answer to be no.  And with that statement, there is no blame whatsoever… we have a bulky national curriculum to tackle, so it’s not surprising that this vital element doesn’t get the airtime it needs or deserves.  For anyone that is interested, Voice21 (School21’s impressive oracy department) have an oracy framework which could be a useful starting point for developing a shared understanding of oracy with practitioners in your setting.  They split oracy into four domains: physical, linguistic, cognitive and social & emotional.  It was developed alongside Cambridge University and is really thought-provoking when considering talk across your curriculum. 

Research into oracy isn’t always transferable, there is a number of studies from complex environments which are difficult to draw a direct comparison from (much research  surrounds debate as a teaching tool for oracy, for example).  However, there are a few key statistics which are important to keep in mind as we consider oracy: disadvantaged children are 2.3 times more likes to have a communication need – in some cases starting school 19 months behind their counterparts, in terms of oracy and communication.  The National Literacy Trust found that in some inner-city schools, children spoke only four words per lesson.  I’m currently reading Hidden Lives of Learners by Graham Nuthall and I am growing fascinated by the analysis of pupil voice in a lesson – but not just speaking, speaking effectively.  In order for us to support children in moving knowledge from short to long term memory – oracy, or effective speech, is going to play a key role.  

Through my research, I am hoping to explore the links that performing arts can play in developing oracy in disadvantaged primary aged learners.  This isn’t new!  In many ways, many private schools – and some state schools – have already recognized the importance of oracy and the arts. In many cases, they have significant infrastructure in place to support the teaching and learning in this area: LAMDA lessons, Graded Exams in Spoken English (Trinity), Performance Troupe etc.  Although this is excellent for the small percentage of the population who can afford these lessons, it doesn’t extend to the vast majority of state schools.  Why?  

I don’t have an answer or solution yet, but I know that the arts can be a cost effective and (hopefully) impactful way to support school leaders in developing oracy, as a subject, school wide.  I’m hoping that over the next terms and years we can really challenge the oracy narrative and start a bit of a speaking revolution; highlighting the amazing work which is already in the research domain.  You shouldn’t need to be in a private setting to reap the rewards of effective communication and speech.  

If anyone would be interested in contributing towards my research, then please do drop me a little email at 2391153@dundee.ac.uk, I’d love to hear your experiences (private or state).