voice

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The Oracy Project

An overview Oracy is the effective use of spoken language, at school, at work and beyond

Voice 21: an overview

Voice 21 is a joint project between School 21, Cambridge University and the Education Endowment Foundation.

Oracy is a fundamental life skill which is currently ignored in schools. It is important for children today and as they grow up.

The project aims to develop students’ oracy skills by developing, testing and then rolling out an assessment tool and curriculum resources. Its long term ambition is to help oracy achieve equal status with literacy and numeracy.

Phase one of the project runs until October 2014.

Voice 21 is a joint project between School 21, Cambridge University and the Education Endowment Foundation

Oracy is an essential skill which children require in a range of contexts, today and in the future

Good spoken communication is of paramount importance throughout life, is an essential tool in the workplace and a powerful driver of social mobility. Nevertheless, it is possible to pass through UK education (from primary to higher) without receiving any instruction or assistance in developing the skills it requires.

Illustrative examples of the need for oracy: In work In education In life Talk to the teacher Work in pairs Make friends Play games Talk to parents Work in a group Discuss/debate Act Answer difficult questions Adopt/adapt/resist norms of peer-group Engage with a wider group of adults Go for an interview Work as a team Speak to customers Manage others Explain and defend your own ideas to peers and to teachers Direct a play Take part in societies, student unions, etc.

Assert yourself Find your voice Tell people how you feel Break news

Age 4 Age 11 Age 18

The project will develop an oracy curriculum, culture and assessment for use in schools

Curriculum • •

Rationale

Like literacy and numeracy, oracy is an acquired, teachable skill with its own ‘language’ Dedicated time in the timetable enables students to build an oracy ‘toolkit’ • • • •

Outputs

Timetabled oracy lessons Formal learning objectives, as for English and Maths Schemes of work Online, open-source resource Culture • • Like literacy, oracy should be part of all other lessons Oracy can enhance all areas of school life, inside the classroom and out; parents should also be involved • • Well-structured, high-quality talk is a powerful teaching tool Available in different strengths: from simple ‘same-day strategies’ and extra-curricular activities to assemblies, tutor time and CPD Assessment • • A diagnostic, formative assessment can guide teaching of oracy Assessment can be a powerful tool in raising oracy’s perceived status • • Identifies individuals’ areas of development from a skills framework Assesses students’ oracy in a range of contexts

School 21 will need to work with partners to teach oracy skills effectively

To cover the gaps in our existing expertise To benefit from existing practice and from the best in the business To widen the ‘ownership’ of the project and gain new sources of criticism and feedback

We need to work out a balanced exchange of benefits between the school and its partners

Impact of Voice 21 School 21 is a high-profile school and partnership offers many benefits: An opportunity to make contacts and exchange ideas on practice with other leaders in the teaching of spoken communication An opportunity for organisations to raise their public profiles Excellent social-outreach opportunities for businesses, charities and individuals • Increased awareness of spoken communication skills among schools, government and the media • Oracy a well-regarded and nationally assessed subject; • Well-resourced speech curricula in most schools The project will promote spoken language which will be beneficial for those working in the field • Steep improvement in students’ oracy skills at School 21 and in partner schools in an area of high social deprivation • Oracy culture and curriculum firmly in place at School 21 and in partner schools; • Knock-on improvement of educational standards in Newham Short term Long term

Oracy skills framework – an introduction

A skills framework is designed to organise teaching and learning, rather than to fully describe the phenomenon of speech. Some of its distinctions are artificial; it is not the whole story; like all tools, it will be improved as people use it. We have divided oracy skills into four categories:

Cognitive

The deliberate application of thought to what you’re saying

Linguistic Physical Social

Knowing which words and phrases to use, and using them Making yourself heard, using your voice and body as an instrument Engaging with the people around you; knowing you have the right to speak

Oracy Skills Framework

Physical Linguistic Cognitive Social Exercise of all skills is always appropriate to context

Prosodic features [‘the sound of intention’, pitch, tone, stress, etc.; these are necessarily related to meaning, e.g. in sarcasm]

Voice

Production features [making yourself heard, making sure people know which words you’re saying] Gesture [meaning as movement]

Body

Posture [preventing your movements from interfering with what you’re trying to say]

Knowledge of vocabulary

Choice of vocabulary

Use

Choice of phrasing, grammar

Form

Adaptation to purpose of Simple conventional phrases and speech-acts: greetings, thank-yous, etc.

Complex conventional genres e.g. fairy-tales, newspaper articles, scientific reports etc.

Choice and organisation of content

Structure Theory of mind Rhetoric

Reasoning Questioning Focus Awareness Listening and Responsiveness Willingness to take risks

Argument Critical examination of ideas and views as to timings as to task Recapitulation and summarising Turn-taking and repair Observation of ground-rules Constructive approach to the views of others Willingness to listen

Glossary and additional categories

Meta-skills Qualities

There are qualities which you could not go through the oracy curriculum without picking up. For instance: There are things which you would want someone with good oracy to be able to do, but in order to do them they would use the skills set out in the framework. They could form learning objectives in the curriculum. For instance:

• Flexibility and adaptability • Situational awareness • Confidence • Active participation in discussion

Production features

• Starting and maintaining a conversation • Facing an unfamiliar audience • Persuading Glossary • These are to do with overcoming obstacles to expression: volume, enunciation, etc. ‘Production’ is intended to emphasise how these are skills of voice production, as distinct from intention.

Use Rhetoric

• The choice a speaker makes of vocabulary, syntax, etc. Distinct from knowledge of these things.

• Taxonomy for describing units of speech and the application of such units. Traditionally viewed as making language more vivid, effective, emphatic and so on. Rhetoric is a suite of tools for the organisation of language, usually at the level of a phrase, e.g. metaphor, alliteration, anaphora, etc., all of which are used in everyday speech but which are more pronounced in more formalised utterances.

Structure Argument Turn-taking

• An example is beginning, middle and end; a more interesting performance might rearrange this order • Logical validity of what you are saying • ‘Turns-at-talk’ refers to how we know when one segment of a conversation has ended and another can legitimately begin. It is more fundamental than politeness, more like the vocal equivalent for how even in the busiest streets people don’t bump into each other.

Timetable, the major milestones

June 2013 onwards

Codification of existing practice into oracy curricula

September 2013

Oracy Curricula taught to years 7 and 8 at School 21

April 2014

Trial of refined assessment tool

October 2014

Delivery of finished assessment tool

Summer term 2013 Summer holiday Autumn term 2013 Xmas holiday Spring term 2014 Summer holiday Autumn term 2014 July 2013 onwards

Working with partners to plug gaps in School 21 expertise

January 2014

First trial use of assessment tool

September 2014

Resource bank for curriculum and culture online