“My grandkids cannot read or write cursive. What is your opinion on teaching or not teaching cursive writing in school?”
The e-mail, from my friend Allan Schilter (name used with his permission), caught me by surprise. I confess I hadn’t thought much about this, though it’s clear that cursive writing is used less and less these days – by all of us. Allan doesn’t give ages for his grandchildren, but I assume if they’re ‘reading’, they are likely in school, and I’m deducing they have not been introduced to cursive writing?
I loved Allan’s question. After some thought, here was my initial (somewhat edited) response.
Allan: Well, you’ve hit me with a good question!! I’m not 100% sure how I feel, or if I’ve formed an official opinion as such. But you’ve got me thinking about it now!
Cursive writing is just so second-nature to folks our age, isn’t it? How can folks not know, let alone learn, it?!
But I wonder (because one must ask, no matter how one ends up answering): Is that akin to early 20th century folks saying “Saddling horses is just so second-nature to folks our age, isn’t it? How can folks not know or learn it? How can my grandkids take a ride in the woods with me if they can’t saddle their horses? (What?! They don’t even have horses?!)”
Because, when I step back as objectively as I can, I guess I’m forced to notice this perspective: Cursive writing is/was a highly-convenient shortcut for folks who needed to communicate by hand, which nearly all of us have had to do for so long! It was so needed, of course, it was introduced into curriculum long ago.
Will it continue to be a ‘basic skill’ as we move down the road? For that matter, was it ever a ‘basic skill’ in any other way than an almost-essential shortcut? Will our grandkids ‘need’ this shortcut to be well-informed and well-educated citizens?
Those questions aren’t made easier by the fact that you and I are stuck in the middle. We’re in the middle of an evolution – not a revolution – so it’s hard for us to notice, let alone accept, the (possibly-inevitable?) changes. In this respect, and others, the ‘cursive’ question is like its cousin, the ‘calculator’ question.
Well, there you have it . . . I’m not sure I’m ready to admit this to myself, but I think maybe, as we move into the future, we’ll probably eventually view learning cursive as a luxury to use for a shortcut (to communicate with granddads, write in journals, etc), rather than an absolute necessity for a well-educated person.
As I re-read this response, I’m still now sure how I feel. I suspect the response generated some knee-jerk negative reactions, and I’m not sure I didn’t initially have one myself! Part of me feels that a well-educated future citizen would know cursive, but is that conditioned habit talking? What do you think?
Ironically, I remember the flip side of the coin: Years ago, before our kids could take the traditional high school ‘typing’ class, they each occasionally began to need to use the keyboard for a variety of reasons. As a result, they each ‘learned’ to type. Mostly by trial/error, and not necessarily smoothly, mind you, but they were motivated, and it met their needs.
So, in this similar transition-to-the-future phase, might our kids also learn cursive on their own, as they are motivated to do so for whatever reasons? Whether that answer is currently satisfying or not, the larger educational question, like other similar ones, must continue to be asked.
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