Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England, Geoff Barton, talks to Tom F. Wright about the history of grassroots oracy education which stretches right back to the Victorian era.

Tom F. Wright is Reader in Rhetoric at the University of Sussex. He is a cultural historian of nineteenth century Britain and America. His research focuses on rhetoric and spoken communication and their role in politics, education and the history of ideas. Tom is Principal Investigator on the Speaking Citizens Project and teaches English and American Studies at the University of Sussex