Oracy - The Transformative Power of Finding Your Voice

Literacy. Numeracy. Oracy? A manifesto on transformative power of finding your voice: a key driver of social mobility and an essential skill for our personal and professional lives. For generations our education system has been built on the twin pillars of literacy and numeracy. But what if a third - and equally vital - pillar has been ignored? Enter oracy: communicating effectively, articulating ideas and engaging with others through spoken language. In this persuasive and powerful manifesto, Neil Mercer, Professor of Education at Cambridge and Director of the Oracy Centre, calls for oracy to have an equal footing alongside literacy and numeracy: students should leave school not only as readers and writers, but as accomplished speakers and listeners. With warmth, clarity and insight, he demonstrates how oracy education has nothing to do with ''speaking posh'', or eliminating style, slang and regional accents, but instead empowers people to find and express their unique voice. This is the first book to bring the most important step change in educational and social thinking to a wider audience. It is also practical; a guide of how to use language more effectively to teach, learn, develop a shared understanding, critically evaluate ideas and find creative solutions to life''s burning issues. After all, the impact of oracy doesn''t stop at the school gates: we all need oracy skills for our personal relationships, professional networks and social lives.

About the author

Neil Mercer is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge, Director of Oracy Cambridge: the Hughes Hall Centre for Effective Spoken Communication, a Life Fellow at Hughes Hall and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He has been a Visiting Fellow of the English Language Institute of Singapore, a judge of international speaking competitions for the English Speaking Union and was appointed as an Expert Advisor to the 2024 Independent Oracy Commission.

In 2019 he was given the Oevre Award by the European Association for Research into Learning and Instruction and in 2021 awarded the John Nisbet Fellowship by the British Educational Research Association for outstanding contributions to educational research.

Product details

• Authors: Neil Mercer, Mercer Neil
• Publisher: Bodley Head Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 22.05.2025
• EAN: 9781847928566
• ISBN: 978-1-84792-856-6
• No. of pages: 208
• Dimensions: 142 mm x 224 mm x 21 mm
• Subjects: Guides > Law, job, finance > Training, job, career; SOCIAL SCIENCE / General, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Sociolinguistics, PSYCHOLOGY / Social Psychology, EDUCATION / Inclusive Education, EDUCATION / Philosophy, Theory & Social Aspects, PSYCHOLOGY / Interpersonal Relations, EDUCATION / Aims & Objectives, Social Mobility, Sociolinguistics, Social, group or collective psychology, Communication Studies, Public speaking guides, Moral and social purpose of education, Moral & social purpose of education, Educational strategies and policy: inclusion, Interpersonal communication and skills, Inclusive education / mainstreaming, Speaking in public: advice and guides