Students’ perceptions of oracy: Implications for schools
8 min read
Victoria Cook, Laura Guihen and Amy Gaunt, Voice 21, UK
This article draws on a growing evidence base illustrating the positive difference that oracy education makes to children and young people’s outcomes and opportunities. We explore students’ perceptions of oracy, drawing on data collected from 1,994 primary and secondary students across England who had undertaken a programme of oracy teaching and learning for one to three years as part of the Voice 21 Oracy Schools programme.
What is ‘oracy’ and why do we need it?
The term ‘oracy’ was coined in 1965 by professor of education Andrew Wilkinson, who recognised that speaking and listening should be placed on an equal footing with numeracy and literacy. Oracy may be understood as both a set of teachable skills and a pedagogy; the best oracy teaching and learning occurs when students are learning through talk while simultaneously learning the skills required to talk effectively (Gaunt and Stott, 2019). Oracy involves bot
Join us or sign in now to view the rest of this page
You're viewing this site as a guest, which only allows you to view a limited amount of content.
To view this page and get access to all our resources, join the Chartered College of Teaching (it's free for trainee teachers and half price for ECTs) or log in if you're already a member.
- Alexander R (2020) A Dialogic Teaching Companion. London: Routledge.
- Barnes D (2008) ‘Exploratory talk for learning’. In: Mercer N and Hodgkinson S (eds) Exploring Talk in School Inspired by the Work of Douglas Barnes. London: SAGE Publications, pp. 1–16.
- Braun V and Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2): 77–101.
- Dawes L, Mercer N and Wegerif R (2000) Thinking Together: A Programme of Activities for Developing Speaking, Listening and Thinking Skills, for Children Aged 8–11. Birmingham: Imaginative Minds.
- Dockrell JE, Marshall C and Wyse D (2015) Talk for Writing: Evaluation report and executive summary. Education Endowment Foundation. Available at: https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/documents/projects/EEF_Project_Report_TalkForWriting.pdf?v=1630925963 (accessed 15 March 2022).
- Gaunt A and Stott A (2019) Transform Teaching and Learning Through Talk: The Oracy Imperative. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.
- Gorard S, Siddiqui N and Huat See B (2015) Philosophy for Children: Evaluation report and executive summary. Education Endowment Foundation. Available at: https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/documents/projects/EEF_Project_Report_PhilosophyForChildren.pdf?v=1630926028 (accessed 15 March 2022).
- Jay T, Willis B, Thomas P et al. (2017) Dialogic teaching: Evaluation report and executive summary. Education Endowment Foundation. Available at: https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/documents/projects/Dialogic_Teaching_Evaluation_Report.pdf?v=1630925826 (accessed 15 March 2022).
- Menzies L, Millard W, Yeeles P et al. (2020) Bridging the word gap at transition: The Oxford Language Report 2020. Available at: https://cfey.org/reports/2020/10/bridging-the-word-gap-at-transition (accessed 7 November 2021).
- Mercer N, Wegerif R and Dawes L (1999) Children’s talk and the development of reasoning in the classroom. British Educational Research Journal 25: 95–111.
- Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) (2021) Speak for Change: Final report and recommendations from the Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group Inquiry. Available at: https://oracy.inparliament.uk/sites/oracy.inparliament.uk/files/2021-04/Oracy_APPG_FinalReport_28_04%20%284%29.pdf (accessed 7 November 2021).
- Voice 21 in conjunction with University of Cambridge (2015) The Oracy Skills Framework and glossary. Available at: https://oracycambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/The-Oracy-Skills-Framework-and-Glossary.pdf (accessed 13 December 2021).
- Wilkinson A (1965) The concept of oracy. Educational Review 17(4): 11–15.
Subscribe
Please login to comment
0 Comments
Oldest
