Baha'i
Buddhist worldview traditions
Christian worldview traditions
Contextualising the diversity of worldviews
Hindu worldview traditions
Humanist worldview traditions
Jain
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jewish worldview traditions
Muslim worldview traditions
Pagan
Rastafari
Sikhi worldview traditions
Soka Gakkai
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Zoroastrian

Focus week: Oracy in RE: Do we need to talk more?

How important is oracy in Religious Education (RE), Religious and Values Education (RVE), and Religious and Moral Education (RME)?

With the release of the Oracy Commission’s report ‘We Need to Talk’ [1] earlier this academic year, it seemed fitting to dedicate the week to investigating how oracy intersects with these subjects.

The Oracy Commission’s report emphasised that oracy should be tailored to each subject’s specific needs, stating:

“Attentive to their subject’s purposes, teachers explain things, provide resources, and set tasks which foster practice in the subject’s discourse, whether that is the correct use of a disciplinary vocabulary, encounter with a rich subject-specific text, or an opportunity to solve a problem in a distinctive disciplinary way. All this fosters disciplinary oracy—a richly informed discourse that is attentive to a subject’s purposes.”

In light of this, our focus week invited us to reflect on the role of oracy within RE/RVE/RME. Key questions we explored included:

  • What were the unique aspects of oracy in our subject?
  • How could we leverage oracy to encourage pupils to engage with diverse worldviews, express their understanding, and share their perspectives?

We hosted a free online ‘in conversation’, ‘Oracy in RE: Do We Need to Talk More?’, on Wednesday, 12th March. You can watch the recording below:

The event was hosted by Fiona Moss and featured the following expert guests:

  • Rachel Higginson, Curator of the Finding My Voice project, primary adviser, and more.
  • Azaan Akbar, Secondary teacher and member of the Culham St Gabriel’s Leadership Scholarship Programme.
  • Dr Ryan Parker, Diocesan RE Adviser, podcast presenter, and former RE teacher.
  • Will Ord, Director of Thinking Education Ltd, speaker, teacher trainer, and former RE teacher.

In addition to the online event, we published the following blogs:

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

Speak Up: Empowering Pupils to Find and Use Their Voice in RE by Kelly Keatley

A Subject for our Time: Socio-Emotional Learning in Dialogic RE by Emily Shortland

Oracy in Religion and Worldviews Education by Kuljinder Shokar

As well as voice notes, and a research and resource spotlight on the topic of oracy in RE. We hope you were able to engage with the content and found it valuable.

We continue to welcome your thoughts and insights – feel free to connect with us on social media and share your reflections. Let’s keep the conversation going!

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1 Oracy education commission – We need to talk (2024) https://oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/oec-report/