This position paper presents Professional Orality (PO) as a basic relational competence and ethical obligation in professional practice. PO is of central importance for communication in relational phonic professions where the practitioner is depending on the personal voice in contact with others in his daily work. PO assembles the central linguistic and nonverbal parts that constitute oral communication and is considered as a field of scientific knowledge and specialized skill that can be trained, verified and assessed. PO appears as a transdisciplinary field of knowledge as well as a multimodal complex form of expression consisting of trainable skills, practice based performative knowledge and trustworthy oral presence. This paper argues that establishing the knowledge field PO contributes to strengthens practitioners’ ethical responsibility for their own oral communication practice and, therefore, contributes to the possibility to make students become aware of the importance of artistic precision and trustworthiness in professional oral communication in different educational contexts. Five claims about professional orality are brought forward in order to establish an understanding of oral utterances as different from written ones, and to anchor the professionalisation of oral expression skills as a professional ethical obligation in education. It is argued that oral skills can be developed, trained and assessed in educational contexts adapted to an understanding of orality as a performative, bodily and simultaneous mode of expression. Specific challenges and opportunities related to such training are pointed out, and the consequences of these are discussed. Finally, critical perspectives on the field of knowledge professional orality are mentioned, and areas for further research in PO are suggested.

Denne studien er et bidrag til performativ musikkforskning, med et pedagogisk utgangspunkt. Metodologisk utforsker forfatterne eksperimentelle innganger til musikkforskning gjennom performance-skriving og collageteknikk. Artikkelen er en studie av på hvilke måter en komponists nærkamp med notefienden, vanskene med å lese og skrive noter, får agens i hennes komposisjon og formidling av musikk. Musikken i studien er komponert til tekster av den norske dikteren Herman Wildenvey, og studien gjør nedslag i tre tidsperioder med et spenn på tre desennier. Gjennom performance-skriving viser forfatterne hvordan notelesingsvanskene både hindrer og utfordrer det kreative arbeidet, og gjennom diffraktiv analyse undersøkes notefiendens agens i tre diffraksjoner: (1) når komponisten skaper melodiene til Wildenveys lyrikk, (2) når sangene blir urfremført og lydfestet, og (3) når komponisten og pianisten performativt utforsker en av sangene i samspill. Studien viser at notelesingsvanskene får betydning for komponistens valg av musikkstil, selvforståelse og kroppslige tilstedeværelse i musikken, og for det musiker-metaspråket som komponist og pianist utvikler i samspillsituasjonen. Studien avdekker gjennom et postperspektiv, inspirert av Barad, hvordan erfaringer fra en tidlig musikkpedagogisk praksis setter spor som har virkning i nåtid. Artikkelen gir også et eksempel på hvordan performativ læring er agent for endring og myndiggjøring i et livslangt perspektiv.

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An important part of teachers’ work constitutes being seen, heard and understood in communicative practice in encounters with pupils, colleagues and parents. This performative relational communication practice is a cross-disciplinary competence, which, independent of subject, is of great importance for the performance of pedagogical practice. The teaching profession is a phonic profession, and personal expression through language, voice, body, gaze and face is of decisive importance in a teacher’s daily work. In this position paper the elements of this competence are described. The authors identify and make visible how it can be trained, developed and learnt. They make an argument for professional orality (PO) as a transdisciplinary field of knowledge and compound competence in need of exploration and research. Based on a review of relevant research the authors outline three perspectives on teaching and research in the field of knowledge connected to PO: ethics, teaching and learning of PO with a performative and aesthetic approach, and adults’ transformative learning. The characteristics of training of PO are illustrated through development of a basic arts educational model. In the conclusion the challenges regarding developing a vocabulary for the teaching and learning of PO are presented, and the distinct areas in need of exploration and research are acknowledged.

An important part of teachers’ work constitutes being seen, heard and understood in communicative practice in encounters with pupils, colleagues and parents. This performative relational communication practice is a cross-disciplinary competence, which, independent of subject, is of great importance for the performance of pedagogical practice. The teaching profession is a phonic profession, and personal expression through language, voice, body, gaze and face is of decisive importance in a teacher’s daily work. In this position paper the elements of this competence are described. The authors identify and make visible how it can be trained, developed and learnt. They make an argument for professional orality (PO) as a transdisciplinary field of knowledge and compound competence in need of exploration and research. Based on a review of relevant research the authors outline three perspectives on teaching and research in the field of knowledge connected to PO: ethics, teaching and learning of PO with a performative and aesthetic approach, and adults’ transformative learning. The characteristics of training of PO are illustrated through development of a basic arts educational model. In the conclusion the challenges regarding developing a vocabulary for the teaching and learning of PO are presented, and the distinct areas in need of exploration and research are acknowledged.