A Human Education for an Artificial World…the power of Oracy

We are in extraordinary times. For the first time we have a ‘being’ on our planet more intelligent than us. AI in all its marvellous and intimidating beauty is unleashed and evolving rapidly. As Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum warned, “We must develop a comprehensive and globally shared view of how technology is affecting our lives and reshaping our economic, social, cultural, and human environments. There has never been a time of greater promise, or greater peril.”

How does education need to respond?

Schwab felt that to thrive in this new era, we need to be more human than ever before. We need humans able to problem solve, act with self-awareness and with deep empathy and be able collaborate creatively with purpose.

We need a curriculum that is more intentionally human than ever before.

A Human Curriculum

Cognitive Science research related to memory has driven significant positive changes in curriculum design and pedagogy. However, we must be cautious that we are not honouring ‘remembering’ at the expense of giving time for ‘understanding’ and making the all-important deeper connections to our world.

Herein lies the power of Oracy.

Authentic Oracy

At Finding My Voice we translate Oracy as an opportunity for Young People to find their authentic voice by amongst other elements learning to;

• grow in self-awareness
• know their value and grow their values
• listen deeply and grow in empathy
• build and grow a conversation
• experience and understand the benefits of, ‘interthinking’ as Neil Mercer so beautifully puts it

Whole School Approach

For any dialogic approach to thrive it is vital that school communities consider what ‘Oracy’ means for their community and how is this translated into a whole school culture. It is also vital to make explicit the link between oracy and thought. Speaking isn’t a purely vocal act but an act of cognition.

Subject Specific Beauty

When I speak like a philosopher, I think like a philosopher.

Every subject offers unique power. Capturing this power, codifying and translating into an oracy rich classroom is fire.

The study of Religion and Worldviews is dripping with rich contributions for a human curriculum.

Here’s 5 steps to translating purpose into power;

1 Capture the core

• What are the key human benefits to this curriculum?
• Consider the core purpose, translate into one paragraph which articulates the heart of how this subject changes lives.

2 Create the conditions

• What are the social norms which create the culture we need for this power to thrive?
  e.g. we are curious, we ask questions, we seek to understand, we value all voices

3 A curriculum of words

• Ensure that vocabulary (thinking) is mapped throughout the curriculum so that children evolve the technical and conceptual language on which to hang their thoughts.
• Words need to be deeply embedded and modelled in the narrative of the lesson, not stand alone.

4 Inciting curiosity

• Considering the most compelling and informative resource is key. Stunning texts with illustrations provide powerful context for vocabulary and artefacts and visits, unforgettable experiences, and films an opportunity to step into someone’s story.

5 Quality Dialogic Questions

• With the stage set our young people can interact with learning.
• Questioning is key.
• Generally, we want to ensure that we offer open questions in which our young people can apply and extend their learning and experience disciplinary power…

6 Powerful Oracy

• Think-pair-share is a great way to teach collaborative talk. Don’t forget time to think! Once this is embedded it is possible to move into a more exploratory space, where the teacher hangs back, and the human curriculum takes on a life of its own…

In a world of polarisation and conflict education holds more power than ever before. We need to boldly lean into the beauty of our profession and sing more loudly than ever before.