Should Cursive Still Be Taught in Schools?
Does Cursive Deserve to Be Axed from the Curriculum?
A USA Today article includes laments from parents who feel that cursive is being pushed aside, and the IndyStar reports that teachers are de-emphasizing the script in favor of concentrating on new standards set for science and reading.
The issue has prompted spirited debate. Some of it is surely rooted in nostalgia. Who doesn't remember the painstakingly-hard ritual of learning all the loops and strokes of characters that you once thought you knew so well? Why should we let the younger generation off the hook?
I remember distinct warnings from my elementary teachers: "In high school, you have to turn in all of your assignments in cursive, or your teachers won't accept them."
(Of course when I reached high school, I found out that teachers preferred print handwriting for assignments and typed reports. Those liars!)
Then there is of course the second ritual of learning cursive: forgetting cursive. I've managed to retain some cursive, using it for note-taking purposes (just don't ask me how to write z's or uppercase f's), but it seems as though it's becoming a lost art even among those who have learned it in their youth.
And teaching cursive to children takes time; time that could be spent on science, math, reading, typing-subjects that are more relevant. Why should students spend time learning cursive when it's fast becoming irrelevant and obsolete?
While I'm not perturbed at movements to de-emphasize cursive, it would be unwise to get rid of cursive completely. In that same Vanderbilt survey, teachers reported that they taught cursive for fifteen minutes a day. Taking aside fifteen minutes a day to ensure that students will know how to sign their name and to be able to read any cursive user's handwriting hardly seems gratuitous-especially when it's only for a grade or two.
But here's what bothers me most that's not limited to this particular debate: how come our solution for improving education oftentimes means abandoning or cutting back on another subject?
Instead of setting higher and more rigorous standards, it's about "okay, what can we get rid of?" But I still remain on the fence. If that extra fifteen minutes a day for a grade or two really does improve scientific or computer literacy, I'll reconsider my position. But if it doesn't, then we would have sacrificed a skill-albeit one that not everyone uses-in an aimless attempt to improve test scores.
Sources:
Downs, Megan. "School Debate: Is Cursive Writing Worth Teaching?" USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-01-23-cursive-handwriting_N.htm
Watling, Meranda. "Schools have less time for penmanship." IndyStar. http://www.indystar.com/article/20090126/NEWS04/901260379
Published by Shannon Lausch
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11 Comments
Post a CommentWe've sacrificed learning cursive; we've sacrificed learning the mulitplication tables; we've sacrificied teaching basic manners, but all of our students (OMG) know how to text. LOL at the illiteracy in our country.
Wow... I bet if you ask most people that graduated high school around 2000 what they wish they learned more of in High School - typing skill or cursive writing - most of them would likely say typing. While I myself am an excellent typist and I know cursive, the only time I EVER use cursive is to sign a document. Anything formal in this country is now typed, not written: Need to hand in a report? Type it. Need to write a letter to your Attorney General? Type it.
Regarding the commenter's daughter requiring her students to hand in assignments with "proper penmanship": seems anal retentive to me. As long as it is legible, it should be accepted. Cursive is a "nice to have" not a "need to have", it's as simple as that. Learn how to sign your name and you can be a perfectly adequate professional and never use cursive again.
I think cursive should remain, everyone needs to know how to write, even in this computer age!
Penmanship is an art I hope we never lose.
Interesting thought. It makes me think about how much/little I use cursive myself. Even my signature has become pretty much printed capitals and a few scribbles.
Interesting article...I consider myself a liberated person and all for staying with the times, but many skills have been lost for the sake of...what? My daughter is a teacher and she insists on proper penmanship with her students. This is something I feel should be a main focus for teachers, but that's just my thought!
great points here!
The fact that this question would even be asked shows how far our educational system has sunk.
It doesn't seem unreasonable to me for youngsters to learn cursive writing or for teachers to set aside 15 minutes a day for a year or two to teach them to do so.
I think it is a necessity to write in cursive - It is printing if you print your documents and sign your name - not writing.