Stephen Mitchell

First published here: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/some-children-need-drama-before-they-can-find-their-voice/ in May 2026

Schools are talking more than ever about oracy. That is a welcome shift.

With spoken language set to feature more prominently in the 2028 national curriculum, leaders are rightly asking what this will mean in practice.

How do we teach talk well? How do we help pupils express ideas clearly? And how do we ensure spoken language is developed for every child and not just the most confident?

But there is a risk. Too often, oracy is judged through its most visible forms: the pupil who answers first, speaks fluently in front of the class or dominates discussion.

In many classrooms, confidence is mistaken for communication skill. Yet many children experience speaking at school very differently.

Some need longer to organise their thoughts. Others contribute confidently in a small group, yet freeze in front of the whole class.

Some feel exposed when asked to speak as themselves, and others, including pupils still learning English, need the right scaffolds before they can participate fully.

The issue is rarely that these children have nothing to say. It is whether school creates the conditions for them to say it.

Powerful tools

This is where drama can help. Too often, the arts are treated simply as enrichment. But they can also be powerful tools for learning and inclusion. Drama, used well, has real pedagogical merit.

My doctoral research explored how performing arts, particularly devised drama, might support primary pupils with developing oracy skills.

What emerged was not a story of louder classrooms or instant transformation. It was more subtle and more useful than that.

For some children, movement came before language. Gesture, positioning and expression helped them rehearse ideas before putting them into words.

For others, speaking in role created safety. A child reluctant to offer an opinion as themselves might willingly defend a viewpoint as a character, narrate events through fiction or experiment with unfamiliar language.

Some pupils found confidence through rehearsal. They were not unable to speak, they simply needed preparation before public contribution.

Given time to rehearse with a partner or small group first, their responses often became clearer and more assured.

Others benefited from collaborative creation, where ideas were built with peers rather than delivered alone. For children worried about getting something wrong, shared talk can feel far safer than solo performance.

In short, my research found that some children need drama before they can find their voice.

More than one route

That does not mean every classroom needs to become a theatre, nor that drama is a universal solution. But it does remind us that communication is not developed through one route.

If oracy becomes narrowly associated with presentations, debate or rapid-fire classroom talk, we will reward the children already most comfortable with those forms.

We may also overlook quieter pupils whose voice emerges through different pathways.

Many schools already understand this. They use rehearsal, storytelling, structured discussion, partner talk and performance to widen participation.

They know the arts are not a luxury, but a practical means of helping more children be heard.

As curriculum reform approaches, school leaders should ask themselves these important questions.

Are we creating opportunities for the children who already speak confidently, or pathways for the children still waiting to be heard, and are we giving the arts the place they deserve as a serious route to language and belonging?