This short report by Valerie Coultas is a good reminder of how teachers in the 60s and 70s reached a better understanding of talk as central to the learning process, rather than simply presentation or an ‘elocution model of spoken language’. The accountability agenda, a belief that formal Standard English is the only valid use of language, and the Conservative drive for ‘cultural restoration’ have led up to the marginalisation of talk in Gove’s National Curriculum.
Reclaiming Schools 