What We Found Out

Speaking and listening matter enormously. They shape how we learn, how we relate to others, and how we participate as citizens. But teaching people to speak well is not as straightforward as it might seem. What counts as good communication? Who gets to decide? And can education really make everyone’s voice count?

These questions have guided the work of Speaking Citizens. The original team comprised of Arlene Holmes-Henderson (Classics, Durham), Stephen Coleman (Politics, Leeds), Hester Barron (History, Sussex) and Stuart Dunmore (Linguistics, Edinburgh) and Tom F. Wright (English, Sussex) as Principal Investigator. The programme was supported by major grants from UK Research and Innovation and the Higher Education Innovation Fund.

Our research has explored the history, politics and practice of oracy education, or the teaching of speaking and listening. We have examined both its potential to widen opportunity and its risks of reinforcing existing inequalities. Our findings have informed work with schools and helped shape national discussions and education policy on oracy.

Our Six Key Findings

1. Oracy is about more than individual speaking skills

Speaking well isn’t simply about being confident, articulate or persuasive. It is also about being able to participate in conversations, exchange ideas and make decisions with others. Oracy education should help people develop their own voices while learning to recognise and respect those of others.

2. Speaking and listening are fundamental to democratic citizenship

Having a voice is central to participating in democratic life. Our research has shown how speaking and listening have historically helped people organise, challenge authority and claim political rights. From grassroots political movements to contemporary classrooms, learning to speak and listen can be a means of exercising citizenship, not simply acquiring a useful skill.

3. Ideas about ‘good speaking’ are never neutral

Standards of articulate or effective speech often reflect wider assumptions about class, accent, language and social status. Teaching students to communicate effectively is important, but oracy education can reinforce inequalities if it treats particular ways of speaking as inherently superior. Good teaching must recognise linguistic diversity while helping learners navigate different communicative situations.

4. Listening matters as much as speaking

Having a voice means little if nobody listens. Yet discussions of oracy often place greater emphasis on confident speakers than on attentive listeners. Our research highlights the importance of listening, responding, questioning and making space for others, both in classrooms and in democratic life.

5. Oracy education must prepare people for the real world

Speaking and listening matter far beyond the classroom. They help people navigate workplaces, public services, civic institutions and everyday relationships. Oracy education should equip learners for these varied situations, including those in which they may need to challenge authority, negotiate differences or speak up for themselves and others.

6. Oracy education matters — but it cannot solve inequality on its own

Better opportunities to develop speaking and listening can make a real difference to people’s lives. But inequalities of voice are not simply the result of individual communication skills. They also reflect unequal access to power, resources and opportunities to be heard. Effective oracy education must therefore be part of a wider commitment to educational and social equality.

From Research to Policy

Speaking Citizens has helped bring these questions into national debates about the future of education. Our research team has contributed to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Oracy’s Speak for Change report and the Oracy Education Commission’s We Need to Talk, alongside wider discussions about the place of speaking and listening in the school curriculum.

Throughout this work, we have argued that oracy education should be ambitious, inclusive and informed by critical research: developing students’ communicative abilities while recognising that speaking and listening are also questions of citizenship, power and social justice.

Explore the Research

These findings draw on historical research, interdisciplinary scholarship and collaborations with teachers and education organisations.

Explore our Publications for the research behind these ideas, our Educational Resources for classroom applications, and our Conference Videos for discussions with leading researchers and practitioners.