George Lucas Educational Foundation
Edutopia

Schools That Work

School 21

Public, Urban
Grades pre-K to 13
London
Student Voice

Oracy: The Literacy of the Spoken Word

School 21 believes oracy is as important as reading and writing, and the research supports it. From Harkness discussions to talk-rich assemblies, learn how you can integrate oracy at your school.

Oli de Botton
  • Communication Skills

    60-Second Strategy: Talk Detectives

    Improve the quality of class discussions by giving young kids a checklist of key things to look for when their peers talk.
  • Social and Emotional Learning

    Wellbeing: Fostering Self-Awareness and Empathy With Grounding Texts

    Learn how School 21 uses literature as a gateway to explore sensitive themes, like race, bullying, and personal values.
    Emelina Minero
  • Arts Integration

    How to Infuse the Arts Into Core Curriculum (and Why It Matters)

    Successful arts integration includes approaching your Curriculum like an artist, a rich process for a rich product, cultivating artist-researchers, and combining content with art.
    Ahmet Ahmet
  • Communication Skills

    Talking in Class

    Strategies for developing confident speakers who can share their thoughts and learning.
    Emelina Minero
  • Communication Skills

    Speaking as a Skill for Success

    Through a four-part framework for public speaking, students find their voice and confidence.
    Emelina Minero
  • Project-Based Learning

    Arts-Infused Project-Based Learning: Crafting Beautiful Work

    Learn how to bring cross-curricular, arts-infused project-based learning into your classroom.
    Emelina Minero
  • School Climate

    Redesigning the Traditional Assembly

    Here are five tips that can make assemblies engaging, participative, and reflective of your school's values, content, and pedagogies.
    Peter Hyman
  • Social and Emotional Learning

    A Curriculum for Emotional Awareness

    Learning to discuss their feelings on subjects like culture and diversity helps students develop empathy and grit.
    Emelina Minero
  • Professional Development

    The Tuning Protocol: A Framework for Personalized Professional Development

    Use this innovative, six-step approach of structured yet welcoming group discussion to invite thoughtful classroom, department, and schoolwide feedback.
    Jess Hughes
  • Project-Based Learning

    How 3 Interlocking Pedagogies Can Change the World

    At School 21, the combination of teaching wellbeing, oracy (speaking skills), and project-based learning empowers students to create exceptional work that makes a real-world difference.
    Emelina Minero
  • Teaching Strategies

    The Power of Critique and Redrafting

    Create a culture of critique and redrafting in your classroom by adapting the seven-step Audience Response protocol to your subject matter and students' needs.
    Ahmet Ahmet
  • Social and Emotional Learning

    How School 21 Educates the Whole Child

    At School 21, students are exposed to different real-world contexts—emotionally, academically, and creatively—to discover their voice and place in the world.
  • Social and Emotional Learning

    Wellbeing: Developing Empathy, Emotional Awareness, and Agency

    Learn how School 21 explores topics like culture, diversity, and responsibility using drama techniques, grounding texts, and controversial statements.
    Emelina Minero
  • Communication Skills

    Public Speaking: Oracy Skills for the Real World

    Using the oracy framework -- building physical, cognitive, linguistic, and emotional speaking skills -- students learn to speak on any topic and to any audience.