Oracy in Mathematics: More or less talk?

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by Jane Hawkins, Associate Deputy Director for Secondary, NCETM

This blog sets out to suggest that oracy in maths isn’t ‘really just about talk’, and that it certainly isn’t just about more talk.

Pupils, quite reasonably, understand maths to be what they experience in maths lessons. This influences whether pupils see maths as a set of disconnected topics or a coherent whole, whether they feel their thinking has any value or use, and whether they view maths as being simply about right or wrong answers.

The types of activity they engage in can also determine how pupils think and act in maths lessons. How often are they expected to be sitting silently, as passive recipients of someone else’s thinking? How often are they practising a procedure they can replicate but do not really understand? And how often are they talking, really talking, to learn?

Working with teachers to develop oracy-rich mathematics classrooms has been an avenue for asking them, ‘what do you want your pupils to understand?’. Often this does not simply prompt a pedagogical shift; it also prompts a cultural one, one that requires teachers to consider the nature of teaching and of mathematics itself.

Deepening Mathematical Thinking

When students articulate their thinking, when they explain, justify, question and challenge, they are engaging with the very heart of mathematical activity.

Classroom communication enables students to:

  • clarify and refine their thinking
  • make connections between concepts
  • develop precision in language and reasoning
  • learn from the perspectives of others

But this doesn’t happen by accident. It requires deliberate teaching, careful adaptation, and a classroom culture where all voices are valued.

A stubborn conception about developing oracy-rich maths classrooms is that teachers should be aiming to increase talk in their classrooms. This is not necessarily the case.

In fact, it may be that the amount of talk in a classroom needs to reduce, be more deliberately planned to authentically contribute to learning, and become more closely aligned to achieving the intended object of learning.

As one Year 7 teacher put it: “I realised that if I wanted my pupils to articulate what they were learning, I needed to be really clear on that myself, and with them too.”

Similarly, members of a group of teachers I was working with, who were observing the development of oracy in mathematics classrooms as part of an action research cycle, commented that “the more pupils became aware of their talk, the more purposeful their talk became”.

When we create opportunities for pupils to be co-constructors of their learning, they step up and engage.

Oracy in Mathematics Framework

At a national level, the NCETM are working to elevate the role of oracy in mathematics education. Our recent Oracy in Mathematics Framework highlights the importance of oracy, not just as a pedagogical tool, but as a curriculum entitlement. We want to ensure that oracy is embedded in professional development and curriculum design.

The NCETM recognises that oracy is central to mathematics and mathematical learning. As we work with teachers and leaders across England to embed teaching for mastery approaches, we are increasingly seeing how structured, purposeful mathematical communication can transform understanding, build confidence and promote equity.

One of the most powerful aspects of oracy in mathematics is its potential to enable more equitable experiences in maths lessons. Too often, students who are less confident, have special educational needs or disabilities, or are from at-risk pupil groups are marginalised in mathematical discussions.

By embedding inclusive talk structures such as partner talk and whole class dialogue into lessons, we can ensure that every student has the opportunity to contribute, be heard and develop a deep and connected understanding of mathematics.

Teacher professional development

In our work with maths teachers, we’ve seen how oracy can shift classroom dynamics. Teachers report that students who previously stayed silent are now leading discussions, challenging ideas and developing a sense of mathematical identity and recognising that learning to speak mathematically is a necessary feature in learning mathematics.

A pedagogical strategy we use to support teachers in developing rich mathematical oracy in their classrooms is that of ‘orchestrating productive mathematics discussion’. This is based on research in the USA by Mary Kay Stein and colleagues (Stein et al. 2008), that suggests teachers should do the following things:

  • anticipating likely student responses to cognitively demanding mathematical tasks
  • monitoring students’ responses to the tasks during the ‘explore’ phase
  • selecting particular students to present their mathematical responses during the ‘discuss and-summarise’ phase
  • purposefully sequencing the students’ responses
  • helping the class make mathematical connections between different students’ responses and between students’ responses and the key ideas of the lesson.

Having first planned a task, considering the purpose of the talk and how it links to the intended object of learning, then orchestrate students’ discussion into two phases:

  • ‘explore’ (when they are working on a task together) using various talk strategies to prompt small group pupil talk
  • ‘discuss and summarise’ (when they consolidate the results of their joint activity) where teachers orchestrate pupils’ thinking towards a conclusion which embodies the intended learning of the sequence.

This orchestration can happen in different ways.

Sometimes the whole sequence might only take 2 or 3 minutes, and sometimes it might form a much more extended part of the learning.

Teachers can use the planning and design of one of these sequences as an effective mode of professional development; collaboratively designing a task, anticipating responses and sequencing them towards the conclusion.

This has proved a useful tool in ensuring teachers are explicitly clear about what they want pupils to understand.

Conclusion

Promoting oracy in mathematics is not a peripheral concern; it is a pedagogical imperative.

When we generate purposeful dialogue, we invite all pupils into the heart of mathematical thinking. We shift the narrative from silence and replication to reasoning and connection.

As teachers, leaders and system shapers, our challenge is to design learning that values voice, cultivates curiosity and builds coherence.

When pupils communicate mathematically, they are not just learning maths, they are learning that their thinking matters.

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