Latest news with #oracy
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Is this a dagger which I see before me, King Charles?
I note that in the photo of King Charles visiting Scotland in your print edition (Monarch north of the glens, 29 July), he has a dagger tucked into his sock. How does this fit with the man arrested recently by armed police for carrying garden tools home from his allotment ? No doubt the king had armed police with him who took a different view of someone carrying a weapon in LowcockSandbach, Cheshire Nigel Farage is surely right that lawlessness on the streets is being compounded by the arrival of 'droves of unvetted men into our towns and cities' (Editorial, 29 July). Perhaps he could simply ask his supporters to stay at PaffordBowerhill, Wiltshire It might help to improve the status of oracy in schools (Editorial, 27 July) if teachers could rephrase the often-heard classroom instruction: 'Stop talking and get on with your work.'Pat Jones Author of Lipservice: The Story of Talk in Schools Rather than a green burial (Letters, 30 July), I hope that when my time comes, resomation (a process that uses water and a weak alkaline solution to break down human remains) will be widely available in this MarchingtonWhaley Bridge, Derbyshire Thank you to Martin Parr for his wonderful photo essay on 'voyaging', as cruising is now apparently called (Decks appeal, 28 July). I have never been a fan, but now I'm sure that 'voyaging' is not for VandecasteeleCupar, Fife Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Guardian
a day ago
- General
- The Guardian
Talking is the key that unlocks all education
Simon Jenkins says the teaching of oracy 'was launched about 10 years ago by progressive educationists' (Another way we are failing an entire generation: we must teach young people to speak, 24 July). There has been enthusiasm for spoken English in schools for much longer than that. In 1989, the government published the report English for Ages 5 to 16. In it, Brian Cox argued for the greater inclusion of oracy by asserting that 'talk is now widely recognised as promoting and embodying a range of skills and competence – both transactional and social – that are central to children's overall language development'. Much effort had already gone into legitimising spoken English opportunities in the classroom, including by its appearance in examinations for CSE English. This was not only for formal oral presentations (debates, rehearsed readings etc) but more for the dynamic use of language arising from the multiplicity of environments with effective communication at their heart. Jenkins is right when he argues that the narrow focus on the three Rs is archaic and irrelevant to the real world. What we need is a learning environment in which children can experience and explore talk in all its forms, as the backbone of language and its Mike DavisBlackpool, Lancashire As a teacher of mathematics and computer science, I cannot let Simon Jenkins' assertion that maths 'is not needed by 95% of jobseekers' pass without comment. I accept that a lot of the maths taught for GCSE (eg trigonometry, quadratic functions, laws of indices) is irrelevant in daily life, but I imagine the same is true of all subjects, since most of us do not need, for example, to recall shapes of molecules or understand chromatography (science), or be familiar with medieval or early modern Britain (history). In her delightful book Is Maths Real?, Eugenia Cheng likens the study of maths to exercising core muscles. 'There is no activity in life that involves only core muscles, but it's helpful to have a strong core because it enables us to use the rest of our muscles to greater effect,' she writes. 'It gives us better access to the rest of our strength, as well as protecting us against things like balance issues, tripping over and hurting our back.' All study for GCSE qualifications strengthens our brains – different subjects in slightly different ways. Hence studying a variety of subjects, including maths, is vital. Moreover, if we strip several of these subjects down to the core useful bits, what will be left for students to talk about in oracy practice sessions?Chris WillisOxford I couldn't agree more with Simon Jenkins. When I was a child my parents had no money for books and, as I had a twin, an ideal playmate, the idea of sitting and quietly reading was a non-starter. My parents talked a lot. To each other and to us. Opinions, family jokes, quickfire wit, stories and a lot of questions and most important, how to listen as well as talk. All this was, of course, informal. My English teacher assumed I read all of the time at home, such was my ability to communicate. Sadly, with so many distractions in the home these days, the teaching of oracy in the curriculum seems more essential than ever for a child's development and ability to communicate and to take their place in the increasingly complex CameronFormby, Merseyside Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on talking in class: the writers speaking up for oracy education are right
Two years ago, Sir Keir Starmer enthused about teaching speaking skills. So schools campaigners were understandably dismayed when oracy – otherwise known as speaking and listening – did not appear in the interim report of the curriculum review for England headed by Prof Becky Francis. Peter Hyman, the former New Labour adviser who became a headteacher, has been a key figure behind the revival, over the past decade, of an idea developed in the 1960s. Steps to embed the importance of verbal communication in education have already been taken, with more than 1,000 schools working with the charity Voice 21, and a parallel project in Scotland. The hope expressed by children's authors and others last week is that its absence from the draft report was an oversight which will soon be rectified. The task before Prof Francis's commission is a daunting one, with reformers of all kinds looking to it for solutions. An evidence call attracted 7,000 responses, with the future of special educational needs provision, and a wish to reduce exams, among key issues raised. But it should be clear to the panel, and to ministers, that oral learning also matters. One reason is the rising number of children arriving in primary school with speech and language skills below the expected level. While some pupils catch up later, others need specialist help. Communication difficulties are one reason for the increase in the number of education, health and care plans (EHCPs), which set out what such support entails. The reasons for such complex changes are not yet fully understood, although the pandemic has had an impact. The challenge of artificial intelligence, in relation to university studies as well as schools, is another factor behind a renewed emphasis on talking. Given the easy availability of technological tools to aid writing, it is arguably more important than ever that people are equipped to share ideas and knowledge through speech as well. In many European countries oral examinations are far more common, in schools as well as universities, whereas in the UK 'vivas' are mostly reserved for postgraduate studies. In foreign language learning, the importance of speaking is taken for granted. But while oracy already features in the maths and science curriculum, as well as in English, it is often marginalised. The tricky task of reformers is to alter teaching practice so that more weight is placed on verbal communication, without making this yet another assessment hurdle to be cleared. For its champions, the core of oracy education is the ability to make connections. They want young people to be able to express themselves, and point out that this is a vital life skill – for example, in job interviews and the kinds of public‑facing work that seem least likely to be taken over by machines – for which school should prepare them. Big gaps in confidence about public speaking have long been recognised among the most glaring social inequalities. This doesn't mean that everyone should aspire to be a debating champion. Different accents, personalities and ways of relating should be valued, not ironed out. But if our schools are to keep pace with our frenetically changing world, it is surely right that they should maximise the facility for language, which is part of what makes us human.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on talking in class: the writers speaking up for oracy education are right
Two years ago, Sir Keir Starmer enthused about teaching speaking skills. So schools campaigners were understandably dismayed when oracy – otherwise known as speaking and listening – did not appear in the interim report of the curriculum review for England headed by Prof Becky Francis. Peter Hyman, the former New Labour adviser who became a headteacher, has been a key figure behind the revival, over the past decade, of an idea developed in the 1960s. Steps to embed the importance of verbal communication in education have already been taken, with more than 1,000 schools working with the charity Voice 21, and a parallel project in Scotland. The hope expressed by children's authors and others last week is that its absence from the draft report was an oversight which will soon be rectified. The task before Prof Francis's commission is a daunting one, with reformers of all kinds looking to it for solutions. An evidence call attracted 7,000 responses, with the future of special educational needs provision, and a wish to reduce exams, among key issues raised. But it should be clear to the panel, and to ministers, that oral learning also matters. One reason is the rising number of children arriving in primary school with speech and language skills below the expected level. While some pupils catch up later, others need specialist help. Communication difficulties are one reason for the increase in the number of education, health and care plans (EHCPs), which set out what such support entails. The reasons for such complex changes are not yet fully understood, although the pandemic has had an impact. The challenge of artificial intelligence, in relation to university studies as well as schools, is another factor behind a renewed emphasis on talking. Given the easy availability of technological tools to aid writing, it is arguably more important than ever that people are equipped to share ideas and knowledge through speech as well. In many European countries oral examinations are far more common, in schools as well as universities, whereas in the UK 'vivas' are mostly reserved for postgraduate studies. In foreign language learning, the importance of speaking is taken for granted. But while oracy already features in the maths and science curriculum, as well as in English, it is often marginalised. The tricky task of reformers is to alter teaching practice so that more weight is placed on verbal communication, without making this yet another assessment hurdle to be cleared. For its champions, the core of oracy education is the ability to make connections. They want young people to be able to express themselves, and point out that this is a vital life skill – for example, in job interviews and the kinds of public‑facing work that seem least likely to be taken over by machines – for which school should prepare them. Big gaps in confidence about public speaking have long been recognised among the most glaring social inequalities. This doesn't mean that everyone should aspire to be a debating champion. Different accents, personalities and ways of relating should be valued, not ironed out. But if our schools are to keep pace with our frenetically changing world, it is surely right that they should maximise the facility for language, which is part of what makes us human.
The Guardian
24-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Another way we are failing an entire generation: we must teach young people to speak
The greatest failing of Britain's schools is to teach children to read, write and count, but not to speak. They teach what technology can increasingly do for them, but not what it cannot. A regular complaint of today's employers is that applicants for jobs lack social skills or work ethic. Pupils are rarely taught how to present themselves, handle arguments or form human relationships. The most basic requirements for entering adulthood are ignored. The one task to which teaching is almost exclusively dedicated – examination – is an activity conducted in total silence. No grown-up job involves answering exam questions. Education only in the 'three Rs' is akin to where medicine was in the days of bleeding and leeches. The teaching of oracy, or the use of speech, was launched about 10 years ago by progressive educationists in an attempt to make schooling more relevant. A few charities have promoted it, such as Voice 21 and Impetus, and a few schools promised to teach it. Then, in 2024, came an independent commission on oracy, chaired by Geoff Barton of the Association of School and College Leaders. It reported that the revolution was overdue. Although the national curriculum for England includes the teaching of spoken language as part of English programmes, it is rarely emphasised or made prominent. Speaking ability, group working and class debating should have the same status as reading, literacy and numeracy. Oracy should be 'the fourth R'. Just before the commission, the then prime minister, Rishi Sunak, was still burbling about everyone doing maths until they were 18, as if calculators did not exist. But Keir Starmer grabbed the moment. He declared oracy was 'not just a skill for learning, it's also a skill for life … for working out who you are, for overcoming shyness or disaffection, anxiety or doubt … for opening up to our friends and family.' The Labour leader promised that teaching oracy would be a priority of a Labour government. He had got the point. Or apparently not. Starmer's remark was one of his familiar off-the-cuff moments. He never repeated the pledge. When the government's interim curriculum and assessment review was published in March, the word oracy was absent. Instead there was rather a traditional emphasis on imparted knowledge, what Dickens satirised in Hard Times as filling 'little pitchers' to the brim. On speaking, it was silent. This week, Starmer was called to account. He received an open letter from oracy campaigners demanding he stick to his pledge. It was signed by former education secretaries Charles Clarke and Estelle Morris, writer Michael Rosen, political pundit Alastair Campbell and 56 other champions of the skill of speaking. The writers pleaded with Starmer: 'In a world shaped by rapid advances in artificial intelligence, deepening social divides and persistent inequality, the skills of speaking, listening and communicating have never been more urgently needed.' Rosen, a professor of children's literature, added that 'the backbone of language is our talk. It's the everyday way we make and change relationships, share the events of our lives, hear about other people's lives.' Young members of my family recently returned from school in California, where the essence of the new education is focused on performing and learning in groups. The teacher's role is not to lecture but to guide discussion. This is already being tested in British universities, such as Reading and Bath. I imagine it is anathema to Ofsted as it cannot be measured. When I suggested it, a teacher replied: 'Oh, you just want all schools to be like The Apprentice.' The essence of oracy is helping pupils articulate their thoughts to others, to listen and reply with courtesy and intelligence. Pupils at Winchester College used to start each day with a topical class discussion. All schools should do that. The nearest most children might get to hearing a public debate is witnessing idiot shrieking at prime minister's questions. When I watch the pupils leaving my local comprehensive, they don't converse. They look at their phones or they shout. As Jonathan Haidt has written, this is seriously bad news. The resistance of Britain's school system to change is near fanatical. It says in effect that if the three Rs were good enough for Queen Victoria, they must be good enough for children now. The system still loves maths – which is not needed by 95% of job-seekers – because it is easy to measure and for governments to boast about. Even literature is reduced to multiple-choice questions. Every classroom minute must become a statistic and a league table. Everything we now hear about the teenage young is causing alarm. Mental illness is soaring. So are special educational needs, absenteeism and, worst of all, un-employability. The world of work is irrelevant. School teaching appears trapped in a professional archaism that forbids reform. Class instruction, academic bias, length of terms and exam obsession are immutable. Parents and even pupils responded to the recent curriculum review by pleading for subjects such as 'financial education, careers knowledge, and politics and governance'. The pleas were ignored. There will be no GCSEs in the world outside the school gates. As for Starmer, he is more interested in getting 16-year-olds to vote for him than in giving them a modern education. If he was a true radical, he would honour his pledge and get them talking. Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
