Voices Project

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The Voices Project was a focal point for many at the recent GA Conference. It was great to see that many of those involved in the work were around during the event and I had a chance to meet up and speak to them.

The VoicesProject is a collaboration between teachers, students and institutions aiming to create a more inclusive, critical and anti-racist curriculum. The project uses oral histories to talk about geographical themes and historical moments, whilst centring the voices of cultural groups who don't usually get to be heard in the classroom. The VoicesProject resources consist of: oral histories, transcripts, context sheets and lesson plans.

The team offered a very well received session at the conference.


The Voices Project website was launched to coincide with the conference and I've finally had the chance to take a good look.

The opening page explains the purpose of the project and introduces you to the team.

The VoicesProject is an important resource in today’s classrooms as it supports the creation of more inclusive* learning. Similar to textbook resources, the VoicesProject uses modules from the English and Welsh curriculum, using the framework as a foundation to teach exam board content in a critical way.

The VoicesProject uses approaches that aim to:

Give teachers agency and support to discuss culturally sensitive topics

Through ready-made lesson plans

Represent localities and local identities

Centre plurality

Through oral geography learning resources

Undo the language of othering for students in the classroom

Understand and challenge structural inequalities on local, regional and global scales

Sign up to the website to gain access to the Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources, the actual Voices themselves in the Oral Geographies section, guidance on contextualising the places from where the Voices come, and a Glossary of key terms.

A lot of effort has gone into the creation of these materials.
They are relevant to a number of subjects and have been mapped to specification documents to help teachers see where they can be used.
These include a lesson on cultural connections with food, a look at British identity and explorations of migrant stories.

There is also guidance on how to set up a Voices Project in your own school - something which I shall certainly consider.
Finally, there is a useful Glossary of key terms, which will perhaps be added to as the project receives further feedback.

Take the time to visit the website and browse through the resources and methodology.

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