VIEWS & OPINION
Is oracy the key to an ambitious curriculum? Comment by TRACEY LEESE, English and literacy specialist
As an English specialist, I have always believed language to the single biggest factor in success for learners. I have made this bold claim in every job application, interview and subsequent role I have ever held. It is a belief that brought me into the profession, and has kept me here for over 15 years. Until recently, I also understood that this view was likely inherently biased and informed by my own love of the English language. However, my recent experiences with
Ofsted have left me reflecting on the role that language – by which I mean spoken language - plays within an ambitious curriculum, and perhaps oracy is actually the key to unlocking student potential. In many ways students’ oracy can be seen as an outward indicator of the curriculum they habitually receive as well as providing an insight into a school’s overall expectations and culture. In fact, I would argue that a culture of high expectations cannot help but manifest itself within students’ oracy. During a deep dive for example, so much rests not just on what students can recall, but also how this is articulated including whether or not they can apply tier 3 vocabulary appropriately. When internally quality-assuring the level of ambition in any curriculum, the level of oracy can certainly serve as a meaningful litmus test of the breadth and extent of students’ academic diet.
Research tells us that oracy mirrors children’s language acquisition – students need to say a word before they can read it and only then will
they be able to apply it to writing. Therefore, the role of oracy is absolutely crucial in terms of any school’s curriculum intent, sequencing and implementation, and yet I wonder how much curriculum time school’s feel able to dedicate to the explicit teaching of oracy?
In many ways it’s hard to overstate the impact that students’ working literacy has on a school community, and whilst the national curriculum overtly states the spoken language skills and content that schools must deliver, this cannot be deemed to be an exhaustive specification if school curricular is to match the height of our ambition for students. In other words, do the oracy opportunities in your school prepare students for Oxbridge and other Russell Group Universities? Or to become captains of industry?
External accreditation such as LAMDA or the English Speaking Board can provide a useful metric for school leaders in order to quantify the contribution of oracy, and (in my experience at least) are well worth the investment. Not least of all because high-quality oracy can reap huge cognitive gains in terms of long-term retention of knowledge; language- rich classrooms, where oracy and vocabulary are prioritised systematically and passionately have been proven to produce learners with higher levels of self-esteem – something which translates to eventual academic achievement.
Students who are good orators will be more employable, more fulfilled and ultimately successful citizens. In an era where students who rely heavily on technology in order to communicate, oracy skills carry more weight than ever. So if you’re looking to focus an area of school improvement which will reap huge gains, oracy could definitely be the talking point you’re looking for.
Assistive technology turns students into confident
and capable readers Comment by SAL McKEOWN, journalist and editor
Demi Collins is a student at Oldham College. She has dyslexia, ADHD and autism and has been using OrCam Learn. This is a powerful new solution that combines practical reading support, intuitive web and mobile apps, and robust analytics and reporting. Just point and click and the OrCam Learn will read the entire document or just individual words at a speed to suit the listener. This makes it the perfect companion for students in college, at work or in exams.
Demi says: “As a dyslexic adult, you don’t want to admit that you have difficulties in reading, but I’ve really struggled. Reading has always given me a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. The OrCam Learn is such a cool piece of technology. I was able to use it in my GSCEs which was brilliant as it cut down my time in exams massively, and I could focus on my answers instead of worrying about reading the questions.” Another student, Maddie, has autism and anxiety around reading. She’s been using the OrCam Learn at college and on work placement at a local bakery where she has plenty of reading to comply with Health and Safety regulations and complete tasks.
Her teacher, Angela Owen, says she has seen a sudden and noticeable difference in Maddie’s demeanour. Now she is enthusiastic, excited, and keen to engage with people and says that the OrCam Learn has made her ‘feel normal for the first time in her life.’
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www.education-today.co.uk
But OrCam Learn is not just a text to speech device. Its Reading Pal feature also helps students improve their reading skills. It uses artificial intelligence to listen to a student reading and measure:
• Text difficulty level
• Fluency (measured by Words Correct Per Minute) • Accuracy (% of accurately read words) • Reading rate (Words Per Minute) • Total reading time
Oldham College is a large further education college that offers its students a range of technical and professional qualifications including vocational, adult and university courses, T Levels and apprenticeships. OrCam Learn has given them a tool to identify and help those facing the greatest challenges.
Faye McLaughlin, Assistive Technologist at Oldham College, said, “This has been an exciting new approach for our learners that we’ve never had before. We can also access the Reading Pal through the web portal which gives us a full breakdown on how well the learner has performed with their reading, which is an invaluable resource for us.” OrCam Learn has transformed life for Demi Collins: “I can’t express enough how amazing the OrCam Learn is. It helps people so much and gives them independence in their learning that they never had before. It’s really helped me in English and given me a new love for reading. I’ve asked for books for my birthday for the first time in my life.”
For more information:
https://learn.orcam.com/gb/ December 2022
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