Talk for Good

What is voice?

Author

The Institute for Talk
July 01, 2024

Welcome to week one of the Talk for Good newsletter. This week, we will define voice in the context of education and cover some essential terms. In the coming weeks, we will discuss why voice is important as well as some clear strategies that can be used in classrooms, schools and education systems to promote voice.

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Why talk?

Essential idea: Talk has been part of what it is to be human for millions of years. Being able to communicate effectively is an essential life skill. Whilst young people develop the skills to be able to talk, effective communication is something that needs to be explicitly developed through education.

Being able to communicate effectively  – to pass information to others and to understand what others say to us – is an essential life skill.

Scientific research undertaken by British archaeologist Professor Steven Mithen, along with established archeological records, have now allowed scientists to pinpoint the date humans started speaking as approximately 1.6 million BC, and so we have travelled with this skill for a very long time. Mithen argues that the acquisition of spoken language “changed the human story so profoundly” because it increased the cognitive capacity of humans, allowing us to do three key forward-looking things – to conceive of and plan future actions and to pass on knowledge.  In the context of 2024, the skills of speaking and listening, or Oracy, still hold power and import, particularly in the field of education. 

What is Oracy?

According to UK charity Voice 21, Oracy is defined as ‘the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language,’ and it is the lynchpin that holds the classroom experience together for students. In educational settings, Oracy has two facets: learning to talk and learning through talk.

Learning to talk is essentially the explicit teaching of spoken language skills. Think of it as the finished article in terms of spoken language whereby students learn how to enunciate, to project, and adapt their language for different purposes to impact others.

Examples of this might be:

  • A formal debate

  • A presentation

  • A speech.

By contrast, learning through talk refers to the use of talk in the classroom (either between teacher and students, or student to student) which is used to develop understanding and facilitate learning. This type of talk is known under different guises - ‘talk for learning’, ‘speech for cognition’, ‘exploratory talk.’ 

Ultimately, it is this type of talk which makes the classroom a dialogic space to engender effective thinking. It is when students share their knowledge, explain their ideas, and justify their arguments with evidence. It is when they actively listen to one another so that they can then summarise, build upon, or challenge the ideas of their peers in a reasoned and equitable way. 

The synergistic power of this type of talk is reflected in Emeritus Professor Neil Mercer’s term ‘interthinking.’  To grasp what Mercer meant by this, it is helpful to think of the image of a double helix which illustrates how, through dialogue, two strands of individual thought come together, influencing each other and creating new intelligence.

Why does it matter?

At the Institute for Talk, we believe that a school in which Oracy is thriving is a school in which every voice counts and every voice is heard. It is a school in which expression is crucial, and articulation of thought is prized. It is a school in which complex ideas are developed through negotiation, and understanding is constructed and strengthened through dialogue; it is a democratic school, in which students understand that listening to others is as important as talking themselves.  A school in which Oracy thrives is a school in which students lead assemblies, a school in which lessons are dialogic and discursive, in which pupils are active not passive, and in which girls and boys understand themselves, and can speak about themselves, as individuals.

It is a school in which students are proud of their voice, and are proud to have it recognised and heard.

Summary: Oracy skills are fundamental to humanity; they need to be developed, intentionally, in education systems. It is helpful to draw a distinction between learning to talk and learning through talk; both are essential elements of a curriculum and work together to empower students to use their voice for good.

Further Reading: