Thinking about...improving pupils' ability to speak well

About five years ago, whilst observing an A-Level lesson, I had a light-bulb moment. As my colleague was questioning students within his lesson, it was evident that they had developed good subject knowledge. However, it was apparent that they had difficulty articulating their knowledge in a clear and concise manner and in applying it appropriately to actually answer the question being asked.  The light bulb moment was that these same students had the same difficulty in examinations with their written answers. Since this moment I have been focused on develop oracy as an integral component of teaching and learning. David Didau, in the Secret of Literacy, emphasises that pupils’ ability to write well depends on their ability to speak well. He recommends that teachers model and encourage speech and academic language that pupils need to access our subjects.

Developing practices to ensure questions challenge learners, promote depth in discussion and promote the use of Standard English has been a whole school focus this year. This post outlines our approach to how high quality discussion have become custom and practice in every classroom.

High quality questions need to be posed if pupils are to develop their oracy skills. Planned questions are therefore a priority. Pupils don’t waste time recording objectives, we have banned differentiated outcomes but what we do insist on, is that teachers share a ‘challenging question’. During the planning process teachers identify the most important questions that they want pupils to be able to answer. These questions help teachers assess to what extent pupils have mastered key knowledge and enable them to identify and address common misconceptions. Most importantly, these questions, require pupils to think!

This question grid is in every teacher planner to help support this process. Teachers like the simplicity of this resource and how easily can be displayed. A teacher obviously can’t plan every question but this is an easy ‘go-to’ resource that does improve the quality of questions that teachers pose live within the classroom.

The Pose-Pause-Pounce-Bounce questioning technique is utilised to provide the foundations of effective classroom discussions. Posing a challenging question at the start of the lesson enables pupils to think about how they might respond and it allows them to develop their answers throughout the lesson. The ‘bouncing’ element of the technique is essential to improving spoken language and to deepen thinking.

Pupils stand up to answer questions in lessons. I have been very mindful that this practice needs to have an impact and there is a danger that it could become a mechanical process. The rational for this strategy is that it is used to develop pupils’ confidence and to form the expectation that they must contribute to the learning in every lesson. However, it is a strategy that contributes to creating a ‘growth-mindset’ culture. Once a pupil has answered a question they are required to remain standing whilst the response is ‘bounced’ around the room. Pupils are encouraged to develop answers and it is emphasised that this is advantageous to the learning of the whole class. Pupils are praised for sparking ideas that generate discussions across the classroom. Inaccuracies are seen as opportunities to develop an answer rather than perceived as a mistake. Emphasis is placed on the discussion rather than on any one answer; developing the belief that every pupil standing has equally contributed to a high quality answer.

Rich and focused discussions are developed by using an ABC approach. I first discovered this when reading ‘making every lesson count’ (Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby). This approach ensures that pupils actively listen and acknowledge the thoughts of their peers and it provides them with a structure to help them consider how they phrase their answers. We have ABC resources that are displayed in every classroom to encourage learners to agree with, build on and challenge their peers. 

Finally we use the phrase ‘say it in a sentence’ to ensure that pupils answer questions using Standard English, in full sentences and without using slang. As an inner city school and a school with a high proportion of EAL pupils this is really important. Pupils easily develop bad habits; we need to prevent them from using slang when it is inappropriate. That phrase is used to remind pupils how they are expected to speak, and to remind teachers of their responsibility to develop answers that do not only demonstrate knowledge and understanding, but are also articulated to a high standard. 

The consistency with which this is applied across whole school determines its success. It has worked because all teachers have bought into the strategies and understand the importance of developing pupils’ ability to speak well. As a result pupils are developing good habits and have started to become less reliant on the resources within the classrooms. They have started to become more aware of their standard of English and have started correcting themselves. We were particulary proud of the following extract taken from a report following a QA visit by an ex-HMI:

‘On a tour of the school with the Headteacher to Mathematics, English and Music classes I was struck by the very high expectations of teaching and learning in every classroom. Teachers are working hard to develop pupils’ verbal communication skills alongside the basics of numeracy, literacy and ICT. All pupils were able to explain what they were learning and how. Pupils told me they are not allowed to use ‘slang’ words in school and are very proud of their ability to discuss and debate issues with articulacy and coherence’.