Lucy Powell - Oracy

[mids2019]

The education Secretary wishes to put more emphasis on piracy as well as the written language. While I think superficially it's a great idea I do wonder that if we start marking spoken language in a significant way we would bias against the working class and those with English as a second language? I love in a deprived town and there is a distinct dialect including phrases and mannerisms which reflect the locality but I am sure would not constitute 'food's spoken language.

Is this a postiv e step or an attempt to get working class kids to talk like middle class kids?

That is a really interesting point and I was thinking of this as well.

I note with drama of you expand this to à profession then it is intensely competitive and actors seem to be disproportionately middle class which is a side issue but one of the reasons may be that the middle classes have the financial ability to support children in putative acting roles (external classes etc.)

Yes drama would be great for many kids but for GCSE you obviously have to grade it as an academic subject which alongside other creative subjects can have its challenges. IMHO you may not be the most academic but he very good at drama and if you look at acting as a whole may be you can see some examples of this (though this is certainly not a generalisation).

I think offering GCSE drama would actually for our school reduce some of the competitiveness for school plays etc. which tend to be dominated by ultra confident kids whose parents think they are destined for greatness.

There is plenty of scope for making oracy, group video production, talking on camera, presentation, discussion of social issues etc. a part of PHSE, so that "Personal Development" actually does what it says, builds skills and empowers, instead of forcing kids to sit there hearing about drugs and misery.

Interesting. I always thought my daughter's PHSE was quite depressing in introducing them to all the negative things in the world when you would hope they could spend their childhood years with optimism.

Yes, that's exactly what I think too mids2109. No policy-induced PHSE at all would be better, but if they have to do it, at least give them skills and a platform.

Whether a child has good oracy skills is not subjective. Children entering school with weak language skills make less progress and the gap with their peers increases as they age. Oracy predicts your chances of gaining employment or being jobless and poor oracy is associated with poor mental health.

An exam in oracy is not really the point as what is needed is oracy being woven in across all subjects so students learn to learn through talking and learn to talk in different contexts. Explicit teaching of turn talking, agreeing, developing points, creating challenge and counter arguments allows disadvantaged students to make real progress in their ability to express themselves. It helps understanding of learning, of themselves and of feelings.

If you could visit a leafy lane top set, a lower middle set in a deprived inner city and finally a pru and if you could watch children in lessons (and socially) you would find oracy features match those shown in professional jobs, minimum wage jobs and jails accordingly. It’s depressing and should be challenged by oracy being an explicit goal.