Cursive Writing:
I have re-blogged the following article, “States
try to save cursive writing in the classroom in the digital age,” by Julie Carr
Smyth, The Associated Press, November 14, 2013. I know that since I’ve started
with using the computer, I can now type faster than I write—prior to regular
computer use, the reverse was true. The quality of my writing has also
diminished. However, I do have a bit of a fetish for fountain pens and the
aesthetic quality of the cursive written print. I too wonder about the downside
repercussions of losing cursive writing. A friend of mine, who is now a retired
theology professor, told me once that he preferred to write out his books in
cursive writing first, then he would use the keyboard to type them out. What do you think dear readers? I’d love to
read your comments. :-) Eclecticity
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The swirling
lines from Linden Bateman’s pen have been conscripted into a national fight to
keep cursive
 |
| Image credit: room45news.blogspot.com |
writing in American classrooms.
Cursive. Penmanship. Handwriting.
In years gone
by, it helped distinguish the literate from the illiterate. But now, in the
digital age, people are increasingly communicating by computer and smartphone.
No handwritten signature necessary.
Call it a sign of the times. When the new
Common Core educational standards were crafted, penmanship classes were dropped.
But at least seven of the 45 states that adopted the standards are fighting to
restore the cursive instruction.
THE ARGUMENT FOR CURSIVE
Bateman, a
72-year-old state representative from Idaho,
says cursive conveys intelligence and grace, engages creativity and builds
brain cells.
“Modern research indicates that more areas
of the human brain are engaged when children use cursive handwriting than when
they keyboard,” said Bateman, who handwrites 125 ornate letters each year.
“We’re not thinking this through. It’s beyond belief to me that states have
allowed cursive to slip from the standards.”
WHY WAS IT DROPPED?
State leaders
who developed the Common Core – a set of preferred K-12 course offerings for
public schools – omitted cursive for a host of reasons, including an increasing
need for children in a digital-heavy age to master computer keyboarding and
evidence that even most adults use some hybrid of classic cursive and print in
everyday life.
“If you just stop and think for a second
about what are the sorts of skills that people are likely to be using in the
future, it’s much more likely that keyboarding will help students succeed in
careers and in school than it is that cursive will,” said Morgan Polikoff, an
assistant professor of K-12 policy and leadership at the University of Southern
California.
THE MOVEMENT TO HAVE TEACHING CURSIVE
RESTORED
States that
adopted Common Core aren’t precluded from deviating from the standards. But in
the world of education, where classroom time is limited and performance stakes
are high, optional offerings tend to get sidelined in favour of what’s
required.
That’s why at least seven states – California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina
and Utah –
have moved to keep the cursive requirement. Legislation passed in North Carolina and
elsewhere couples cursive with memorization of multiplication tables as twin
“back to basics” mandates.
Cursive advocates cite recent brain science
that indicates the fluid motion employed when writing script enhances hand-eye
co-ordination and develops fine motor skills, in turn promoting reading,
writing and cognition skills.
They further argue that scholars of the
future will lose the ability to interpret valuable cultural resources –
historical documents, ancestors’ letters and journals, handwritten scholarship
– if they can’t read cursive. If they can’t write it, how will they communicate
from unwired settings like summer camp or the battlefield?
“The
Constitution of the United
States is written in cursive. Think about that,”
Bateman said.
WHAT DO THE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS THINK?
All the fuss
seems a bit loopy to certain members of Gens X, Y and Z – which have diverged
increasingly from handwriting to computers. The volume of first-class mail at
the U.S. Postal Service fell in 2010 to its lowest level in a quarter-century,
just as computer use – and the keyboarding it involves – was surging. Some 95
per cent of teens use the Internet, and the percentage using smartphones to go
online has grown from 23 per cent in 2011 to 37 per cent today, according to
the Pew Research Center.
A 2012 Pew report found the volume of text messages among teens rose from 50 a
day on average in 2009 to 60 a day on average two years later.
Pew research has also shown that educators
don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. A survey of teachers of American
middle school and high school students published in July found 78 per cent
believed digital tools such as the Internet, social media and cellphones were
encouraging their students’ creativity and personal expression.
Kristen Purcell, associate director for
research at Pew’s Internet & American Life Project, said researchers found
it surprising – given those results – that 94 per cent of the 2,462 Advanced
Placement and National Writing Project surveyed still said they “encourage
their students to do at least some of their writing by hand.”
Teachers gave
two primary reasons, she said: Most standardized tests are still in
paper-and-pencil format and teachers believed having students write by hand helped
them slow down their thinking, encouraging deeper and fuller thinking during
the writing process. Pew surveys of teens have found many prefer to write on
the computer, which they found faster and neater, but many still use
handwriting for notes, letters, journals, short stories or music lyrics – as
well as for school.
“I find it hard to think creatively when I
am typing,” a high school boy from the Pacific Northwest
told Pew for a 2008 study. “So I like to handwrite everything, then I put it on
the computer. I don’t know, that is just how I am.”
Kathleen Wright, handwriting product manager
for Zaner-Bloser, a Columbus, Ohio-based textbook publisher, said colleges of
education that have focused on “whole language” education have turned out a
crop of young teachers who are unable to either write or teach cursive writing
themselves.
That has financial implications to what’s
required in the Common Core. “One of the things I’ve seen over the years is the
hesitance on the part of some boards to legislate specific things because it
may require additional training for teachers,” Wright said. “If you
specifically require things for handwriting at different grade levels, you have
to provide professional development. That may be the reason why it wasn’t
included in the Common Core.”
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?
Adults unable to
write cursive might think back to the experiences of Jacob Lew when President
Barack Obama nominated him as treasury secretary in 2013. As treasury
secretary, Lew’s signature would be on U.S. currency. But that signature
looked more like a series of loops than the distinct letters in his name. “Jack
assured me that he is going to work to make at least one letter legible in
order not to debase our currency,” the president joked at the time.
