Drama for Oracy

Drama can be used with whole classes, to intentionally develop children’s oracy skills. Drama strategies employ different configurations and groupings, and each strategy has its own ‘talk’ protocols. The strategies can easily be used by any teacher, in any subject lesson, as ‘Talk Frames’. Drama engages children and provides opportunities for them to practise talking appropriately together, for different purposes, within in a range of meaningful contexts. This session presents some drama strategies as ‘talk frames’ and explains how they can be set up and sequenced effectively, to specifically develop oracy. The strategies can be used outside Drama lessons but during the session, teachers will also be guided through one Drama lesson, with oracy opportunities highlighted throughout.

Patrice Baldwin is Chair of the Council for Subject Associations (CfSA).

She was a Primary Headteacher, Arts Education and School Improvement Adviser (Norfolk) and an Ofsted inspector. She was Sir Jim Rose’s Editorial Expert for Drama in his proposed primary national curriculum and Oak National Academy’s Primary Drama subject leader during the pandemic. She worked regularly with Pie Corbett for several years, delivering ‘Talk and Drama for Writing’ conferences.

From 2012 until 2020, she arranged and offered primary curriculum courses and leadership conferences for Norfolk schools, through Inspiring Professional Development and School Improvement.

Patrice is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and is a specialist in using Drama for learning. She has worked in almost 40 countries at conferences and in universities. She was Chair of National Drama (2004- 2015) and President of the International Drama Theatre and Education Association (IDEA) from 2010-2013.

She founded and directed, Drama for Learning and Creativity (D4LC), supported by Norfolk County Council, QCA, Arts Council England, Creative Partnerships and NESTA and presented it at UNESCO’s 2nd World Arts in Education Conference in South Korea. Patrice was a BBC Education scriptwriter and series consultant. She is a prolific author. Her most recent book is Process Drama for Second Language Teaching and Learning (Bloomsbury Academic, 2022) and her next book will be published in Autumn 2023 by Taylor and Francis. Her website is www.patricebaldwin.net.