Topical Talk

Resource type: Lesson plans and teaching aids

Price band: Free

Key stage: KS2, KS3

Region(s): All of UK

Topical Talk is a programme of resources designed to help students aged 10+ develop critical thinking and communication skills through discussions about the top news stories and issues of our time.

There are two parts to the Topical Talk programme:

Teaching resources designed to stimulate classroom discussions about the news. Headline resources are published every week on a different news story. Special Editions explore a topic in greater depth over five or six sessions.
Topical Talk Festivals are online global discussions between schools and leading topic experts that take place once a year. Each festival provides inspiring activities, online events and awards to stimulate thoughtful conversations and ideas. The next Topical Talk Festival will take place from January 22nd to March 28th 2024.

Cost: Topical Talk teaching resources are free. Eligible, government-funded schools can join Topical Talk Festival for £299 per class of 34 students.

About The Economist Educational Foundation: The Economist Educational Foundation is an independent charity set up by The Economist. Its mission is to help young people develop the necessary skills to enable them to engage critically with the news and current affairs.

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The teaching resources are created by experienced teachers working with journalists and fact-checkers at The Economist to ensure that all the information provided is accurate and up-to-date. They provide everything you need to lead the weekly one-hour sessions.
All the activities are designed to help students develop key listening, speaking, problem solving and creative thinking skills, as well as the critical skills needed to interrogate the news and distinguish between fact and ‘fake’.
Explore the library of previously published teaching resources. You can filter by category, subject and age range.
The Help section contains videos and additional resources to help implement Topical Talk.