Oracy and Storytelling - recent developments in English education

In this blog, prompted by the publication of the Oracy Commission’s report, ‘We Need to Talk’ (CLICK HERE) in October 2024, I am going to explore the evidence I provided to the Commission on behalf of the Society for Storytelling (SfS) and reflect on storytelling as an essential part of classroom oracy. The Oracy Commission’s report is specific to the schools’ context in England where, many would argue, spoken language has been marginalised since the 2014 National Curriculum introduced by the Conservative-led government of the time. However, the place of storytelling in the classroom has been a live issue for as long as I have been a storyteller (considerably longer than the eleven years since the 2014 National Curriculum), and there may well be aspects of the discussion that are relevant to storytellers in other jurisdictions which are not covered by the curriculum in England.

BACKGROUND

Before going any further, I need to define the word ‘oracy’ that gives its name to the commission. The term ‘oracy’ was first used by Andrew Wilkinson (a British educationalist) in the 1960s to refer to the use of spoken language, providing a contrast to ‘literacy’ which refers to written language. Perhaps because ‘oracy’ sounds to some like educational jargon, the alternatives of ‘speaking and listening’ and ‘spoken language’ have been used in policy documents (including the National Curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework). However, the danger of reduction is inherent within each of these three terms, with the individual action of speech being privileged, (and specifically the language of that speech) over other aspects of communication. I was recently in a meeting with teachers and academics where the alternative of ‘communication, language and dialogue’ was  suggested, and (while something of a mouthful) this title manages to include both the linguistic content and the social nature of communication, and also provides space for the non-linguistic aspects of communication such as vocal tone, body language and use of space - things that storytellers hold dear. However, ‘oracy’ is the word that is used in the report, and is on the lips of policy makers at present, and so I will stick with the terminology for this blog.

In May 2019, the Oracy All Party Parliamentary Group launched the Speak for Change Inquiry which produced an interim report in April 2021 (CLICK HERE to read the report). For those  of us who have worked in education for some time, there was nothing particularly new or  startling in the report, but it was positive that the importance of oracy was being recognised again, and oracy education promoted - even if it appeared to have little impact on the government of the time.

The All Party Parliamentary Group held a follow-up meeting in the Palace of Westminster in October 2023 which I attended as an observer. I was somewhat surprised that there was unanimity in the expectation of the group (given its ‘all-party’ nature) that there would be a change of government when the election was called, and that oracy would be integral to the educational reforms of  a Labour government. I am writing this some months into the government that was elected into power in the UK in July 2024 and, as suggested at October’s meeting, oracy has been part of the ongoing discussions about curriculum reform in England.

THE ORACY COMMISSION

The Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England was established as an independent commission, chaired by Geoff Barton and hosted by Voice 21 (a free school in London that is dedicated to an education which has oracy at its core). The Commission put out a call for evidence between March and May 2024, and a range of individuals and organisations made submissions.

Sadly, despite registering my SfS email address as an interested party, I didn’t receive notification of the Commission’s call for evidence, and only found out about it through social media a short time before the submissions were due. This meant that there was not enough time to put out a request for input from members of the society, and I had to rely on combining my knowledge drawn from being a co-convener of the Storytellers in Schools Forum with my own work. However, part of the submitted bundle was an extensive bibliography of articles and books on using storytelling in education which, I hope, provided further breadth of perspectives on storytelling in education.

For storytellers, I suspect that it is not controversial to suggest that storytelling should have a significant place within oracy as part of the curriculum and on that basis, I submitted an evidence bundle of 4000+ words on behalf of the SfS. Submissions were made online and organised into several sections. In my entries for each area of the online form I emphasised the benefits of developing young people’s oral storytelling, both as an art in itself, but also as an essential means of making sense of the world around them, the role of teachers in fostering development in children’s oral storytelling, and the role that professional storytellers have as models of effective oracy (as well as their potential to support teachers). I have summarised the evidence that I provided to the Commission at the end of this article, along with the prompts to which each section of evidence was responding.

In all honesty, I didn't expect my submission to have much impact on the final report of the Oracy Commission. However, storytelling is highlighted on page 15 (even if there is, I fear, some conflation with drama), so ,  we can celebrate that storytelling has been identified as an essential element of oracy, and the acknowledgement of the SfS as one of the six organisations that helped ‘shape the Commission’s thinking’ is something that we can hold onto.

We can have no idea of the specifics of the education reform that is to come. It is clear, from the conversations that I have been having, that there is little appetite for wholesale reform (with the attendant teacher workload that its implementation would involve), but there can be little doubt that the Labour government wants schools to take a more holistic approach to teaching and learning, and that oracy (or, if you prefer: communication, language and dialogue) will have a more developed and celebrated place in the classroom.

Below I have summarised the evidence that I supplied under each of the prompts which framed the submission:

●       The background of the organisation that I was representing and our interest in oracy. Fairly obviously, I provided background to the Society for Storytelling, its aims and its work. On the basis that the word ‘storytelling’ is often used to describe drama, dance and writing (and a host of other creative processes), I also defined oral storytelling and suggested that, while it is most commonly be understood as performance, storytelling as a process of meaning-making has an important role in the classroom.

• Links between oracy education and specific subject outcomes.

Before introducing the ways in which storytelling can support learning across the curriculum, I discussed the role of both teachers as storytellers and professional storytellers (providing expertise in narrative communication and story traditions, and providing models of effective oracy). Unsurprisingly, the first area of study to be considered was English. Starting from storytelling as embodied communication (oracy being more than the language that we use when we speak) and the modelling of rhetorical devices in spoken language. I also included a short section on how storytelling can support learners of English as an Additional Language (EAL) by providing opportunities to use a range of language features within a supportive narrative structure, and (of course) celebrate the home cultures of students learning EAL by providing opportunities to share their own stories. As examples of storytelling in English education, I drew on the work of Sarah Lloyd-Winder (using the conventions of Kamishibai to teach narrative structure), Hannah Need’s (extending children's understanding of English grammar through storytelling), and David Heathfield (using storytelling to establish inclusive classrooms for learners of English). I also made reference to my own work using storytelling strategies to teach Shakespeare.

Looking beyond English language and literacy, I highlighted the need for teachers to separate how they address storytelling skills and conventions from subject specific concepts and vocabulary. As examples of good practice, I referred to Carmel Page's work on science education and my work of exploring geography.

●       Links between oracy and mental health.

In my introduction to the evidence for this section, I highlighted the role of story in creating personal identity, representing ourselves to others through the stories that we tell and and understanding other people through their stories. I cited the work of Merrick Durling (who has facilitated school storytelling clubs), David Heathfield (and his work on resilience, empathy and change through storytelling), Steve Killick (who has used storytelling for many years to support young people’s mental health).

●       Links between oracy, advocacy and democracy.

In this section, I emphasised the way that National Storytelling Week celebrates storytelling across society, encouraging people to tell personal tales, family legends and the stories of their cultures. Such community telling provides low-stakes opportunities for people to learn how language can be shaped for effect and can be an opportunity to make narrative bias visible. To support this discussion, I cited my own work with young children on developing a critical approach to fairy tales.

● The role that government and schools should play in oracy education 

In answer to this prompt, I wrote:

‘Oracy education should receive the same attention from policy makers as literacy, both in relation to communication skills, language arts and community cohesion. Within oracy education, storytelling should be recognised as a fundamental means of individuals and groups making themselves known and understanding others. … Future curriculums should make explicit the expectation that all learners will experience and make use of storytelling both as performance and process.’

If you would like further information, or to discuss any of the content of this blog, please feel free to contact me through this link: CLICK HERE