Oracy
The Politics of Speech Education

This landmark book offers the first wide-ranging exploration of one of the most important yet misunderstood ideas in modern education.

Tom F. Wright (Edited by)

9781009440318, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 31 July 2025

220 pages
28 x 19 x 2.2 cm, 0.472 kg

Oracy – or 'speaking and listening skills' – has become one of the most prominent ideas in modern education. But where has this idea come from? Should oracy education be seen as positive, or does it hold unintended consequences? How can problems over definitions, teaching and assessment ever be overcome? This timely book brings together prominent practitioners and researchers to explore the often overlooked implications of speaking and listening education. It features essays from teachers, school leaders, political advisers and charity heads, and from leading thinkers across the fields of linguistics, political science, history, Classics and anthropology. Together, they consider the benefits and risks of oracy education, place it in global context, and offer practical guidance for those trying to implement it on the ground. By demystifying one of the most important yet contentious ideas in modern education, this book offers a vital roadmap for how schools can make oracy work for all.

Acknowledgements
List of illustrations
Contributor list
Foreword Alastair Campbell
Introduction: the uses of oracy Tom F. Wright
Part I. Debating Oracy in the UK: 1. Listening without prejudice: what kind of talk is taught and valued in the classroom? Amy Gaunt
2. Oracy and social (in)justice Ian Cushing
3. Fluency for me, but not for thee: why disadvantaged pupils deserve oracy Qamar Shafiq
4. Confidence and outcomes for students and teachers: what does the evidence say? Arlene Holmes-Henderson, Katrina Kelly, Amanda Moorghen and Rebekah Simon-Caffyn
5. Lend me your ears: listening at the heart of oracy Debbie Newman
6. A defence of oracy Neil Mercer
Part II. Oracy in Global Context: 7. Oracy overseas Arlene Holmes-Henderson and Sarah Lambert
8. What Can be Learnt from Global Traditions of Oracy? Karin Barber
9. Lessons in oracy from the US education system Harriet Piercy
Part III. Oracy in History and Theory: 10. What the chartists and suffragettes realised about oracy Tom F. Wright
11. From elocution to empowerment: a history of the oracy movement in Britain Alan Howe
12. Oracy as Justice: Releasing Civic Voices Stephen Coleman
13. The trouble with oracy? Deborah Cameron
Index.

Subject Areas: Educational strategies & policy [JNF]