‘They’re good verbally, but…’

It was concern about Year 13 students’ reluctance to articulate their thinking that prompted Toby Dove to review his approach to the promotion of oracy within history. Having recognised the importance of young people being able to express and defend their claims in valid ways, as well as the ways in which history itself is practised as an oral discipline, he quickly realised that building this capacity could not be left until students reached the sixth form. This article explains the careful planning and careful experimentation that he – and his departmental colleagues – undertook, not just to build disciplinary oracy from Year 7 upwards, but also to ensure that they could assess that development...