By Terra Glowach, PGCE Tutor and Co-Programme Lead for Secondary PGCE; Senior Lecturer in Education
On 14 October 2024, the Secondary PGCE Programme launched a week of university-school partnership activities focused on oracy: how to promote oracy skills among teachers and young people, and how to use pedagogy which generates rich classroom talk. This week of lectures, reading, discussions, observations and cooperative learning tasks coincides with the release of the Oracy Commission Report (PDF), which aims to centralise oracy education ‘to serve our communities and employers in helping to develop young people with the critical knowledge and skills, the sense of civic empowerment, that will prove beneficial for them and for social cohesion.’
The highlight of the week was a session led on campus by the Montpelier High student group, Tackling Diversity in Teaching (TDT), supported by teachers Amy Mayne and Jessica Bray.
Students Adama, Danitor, Sasha-Kay, Cymora, Fiza, Grace, Denecka, Ayesha, and Alexia gave a short talk on the history of TDT and the importance of promoting diversity and oracy in schools, then facilitated group discussions among trainee Secondary teachers about how they might champion diverse voices in the curriculum and the classroom.
TDT started with four members having conversations about inclusivity and how they were unrepresented in school: “It was to channel our frustrations in a positive way and somehow finding solutions for them like talking to teachers in our and other schools about our experiences as young women of colour.” Since then, they have organised and run school activities and workshops for university students training to become teachers across Bristol and the Southwest.
In terms of oracy, the members of TDT say that this experience has “been really valuable in building our teamwork and commitment. It’s of course led us to be far more confident as we have got used to speaking in public, to big audiences. Our trips to universities have been amazing in building aspiration and making us think about what we want from our education and futures. Having a group like this has emphasised how important our voices are and that we have the power to make a difference – we have now spoken in front of about 700 people – we have shaped the teaching of so many people!”
Each member of TDT took turns advising the PGCE students about how to embed diversity and oracy in their specific subjects:
“English is a great subject to promote diversity and oracy. This could be through reading aloud and discussing books. However, English can bring up sensitive subjects and teachers should be mindful of this. Setting ground rules, such as never reading racial slurs, even when they’re in a text, is really important for students to feel safe.”
Maths: “Encourage students to explain their workings out. Talking it through builds confidence in their approaches, and helps others learn too.”
“Last year during Science week, we had a school wide treasure hunt. Every teacher had a scientist’s name and biography attached to their lanyard, and to complete the treasure hunt we had to speak to every teacher and ask about the scientist. This was a great way to promote oracy in conversation and social skills.”
PE: “There are so many incredible athletes, and one look at Team GB demonstrates our diverse, vibrant and multi-cultural society. Getting students to research and give presentations on their favourite sports figures, or even allocating different athletes to broaden our knowledge, is a great way to introduce oracy. Furthermore, students could be encouraged to lead warmups and training sessions, creating opportunities for public speaking in lessons. Another nice idea could be to encourage sportspeople to come in and give talks. This also models good oracy for students, as well as aspiration in sport.”
The TDT group gave a masterclass on the value of oracy and how to create a culture of oracy across the curriculum. Not only have they imparted concrete and useful suggestions to teachers which will help them act upon the recommendations in the Oracy Commission Report, but they have modelled the potential impact of acting on these suggestions: young adults with the confidence, eloquence and agency to change their world for the better.
Tackling Diversity in Teaching (TDT) encompasses the following ECRG strands of research: Equity in Education; Pedagogy; and Childhood, Children and Young People.
