In this 'Commission Conversation' Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, speaks to Arlene Holmes-Henderson about what we can learn about oracy education from the ancient world, why more young people should be studying 'rhetoric' and the myths about oracy and citizenship we should be challenging.

Arlene Holmes-Henderson is Professor of Classics Education and Public Policy at Durham University where she holds a British Academy Innovation Fellowship (2022-2024). After studying Classics at Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge, Arlene qualified as a schoolteacher and taught in high schools for more than a decade before returning to academia. In 2024, she is working with Dr Tom Wright (University of Sussex) on the AHRC-funded project Challenging Oracy and Citizenship Myths. Her work here focuses on co-designing with teachers, new resources on oracy for use in Scottish schools.