“They don’t teach cursive handwriting in schools anymore.” I heard that comment on television recently; it so amazed me that I didn’t even listen closely enough to find out what schools the speaker had in mind. I just assumed that he alluded to American schools. We don’t do dumb things like that in Canada.
Or do we? I recall some of the issues that came up during the 1960s and 1970s as my sons made their way through primary and high school. Back then we worried when the schools quit teaching phonics. I had learned to read phonically; at least in my memory, phonics was a key part of learning to read. Yet as time progressed, phonics became a naughty word in some circles, and something called “whole language” arrived. Fortunately, during his school years, we moved often enough so that someone taught them to read phonetically. Some hasty research tells me phonics has returned, although disguised as part of an overall reading program.
At about the same time educational theorists decided that school would work better if children learned in open spaces. They called it “open concept.” Some school boards took the bait and built school buildings without walls. Guess what? It didn’t work because noise from classes bothered adjacent classes. The taxpayers got stuck with the task of installing walls in the experimental buildings.
Quite recently I have noticed another failure in our school system. I, along with a team of others, operate a service that critiques or mentors new authors. We help them to improve their basic writing techniques, to develop story-telling ability, and to look for publishers. I have made the awful discovery that many of the youngest among potential writers have no knowledge of basic grammar. They don’t know the difference between a verb and noun. They wouldn’t have a hope if asked to participate on the television show, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
And then I heard about schools that no longer teach cursive handwriting, that high-school students today cannot communicate effectively in that medium. I didn’t believe it applied to Ontario, so I decided to consult with a panel of experts: my grandchildren. I checked with five of them, from a grade-niner through college and university age and one well established in a high-tech career. I received almost identical answers from all of them: “Yes, I learned cursive handwriting in grade 2 or 3, but I have lost the skill today.”
They can all type and text at great speed, but not one of them can use cursive handwriting. If they don’t have a keyboard handy, they print out the words with a pen or pencil. If they need to take handwritten notes in class, they print them, sometime in a hybrid fashion, joining some of the letters.
When I asked if they could read handwritten letters from their great-grandparents they answered, “Not likely.”
Don’t blame the teachers. Philosophers and scholars develop theories that eventually trickle down. No one knows if they work until they have screwed up the lives of a generation of students.
I’m afraid to ask my grandkids if they know a verb from a noun.