Should schools reinforce cursive writing skills?
I can’t believe it’s been
a year since I assumed
the presidency at Kingsborough
Community College.
As we countdown to
the first day of a new academic
year, I feel like it’s
my first day of school all
over again. The first day of
school has always been exciting
for me. As a child in
St. Croix, it was the joy of
a new school uniform, new
teachers, connecting with
new and old friends, and of
course my new book bag,
notebooks, and pens.
As I reflect on those
days, I realize that times
have changed so much.
Notebooks and textbooks
have been replaced by laptops
and iPads, and learning
and connecting with
new and old friends; and
teaching doesn’t always
happen in classrooms,
Monday through Friday
or even during the day. Today’s
college student can
take classes online, from
the comfort of their home,
Caribbean L 44 ife, Aug. 30, 2019
on the weekends, at night or
a combination of all three
ways. Unlike when I was
enrolled in college, there
are more flexible ways to
earn your degree and more
ways that fit with your lifestyle.
With fully-online
courses, you never have to
come to campus; with hybrid
online courses, you
can come to campus sometimes
for class; and if you
work all day and all week,
evening classes and weekend
classes are great ways
to stay on track towards
meeting your academic
goals.
Over the years, online
programs have become
one of the popular ways for
working adults to achieve
their college degrees. According
to a recent study
conducted by The Learning
House, 44 percent of
online students reported
improvements in their
employment standing, by
obtaining a full-time job
within 12 months of graduation,
and 45 percent reported
a salary increase.
For people who do their
best work at night, going
to school during evening
hours is a good option.
You’ll receive the same
quality instruction as day
classes but the classes will
be smaller, allowing more
attention from the professor.
And for students that
have challenges attending
week day classes, weekend
courses offers the flexibility
to attend classes on
Friday evenings and Saturdays.
As I reflect on my first
day of college many moons
ago, I realize that there is
no time like the present to
start the journey to your
academic goals. It’s good
to know that you can get
there any way you choose
to.
Dr. Claudia V. Schrader
is president of Kingsborough
Community College
located in beautiful Manhattan
Beach, Brooklyn
and offers KCC FLEX, an
affordable, flexible way to
earn a college degree. Visit
kbcc.cuny.edu/KCCFLEX,
email kcconline@kbcc.cuny.
edu call 718-368-6995 and
get on board with meeting
your educational goals.
EDUCAT I O N PROFI LE
Flexible Ways of Going Back to School
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EDUCATION
Cursive writing lessons were once
mandatory in schools. Many
adults can remember cursive
writing lessons on lined paper and
time spent practicing this aesthetically
appealing style of writing.
But thanks to technology and a growing
reliance on computers to complete
school assignments, handwriting skills
are no longer stressed as much as they
once were. In fact, some children never
receive cursive writing instruction.
The absence of cursive writing lessons
has led to a heated debate. Some
people feel cursive writing is archaic
and a waste of time, while others believe
it is a relevant skill. Here is a look
at both sides of the debate:
The pros of cursive
writing
Various experts and educators
have weighed in on the lasting benefi ts
of cursive handwriting. Here are just
a few of the benefi ts proponents of cursive
writing point to:
Cursive writing stimulates the
brain. “Cursive writing helps train
the brain to integrate visual and tactile
information, and fi ne motor dexterity,”
Dr. William Klemm said in
an article in Psychology Today. The
skills developed from learning cursive
writing cannot be replaced by using a
keyboard. In addition, MRIs have revealed
an interesting relationship between
handwriting and the brain. The
brains of people with good handwriting
are more active in areas associated
with cognition, language, and executive
function than the brains of those
with poor handwriting.
It may promote focus. Writing
things down by hand forces a person
to slow down and formulate his or her
thought. Handwritten notes may hold
the advantage over computer-typed
notes in terms of recollection of facts.
It may help students with dyslexia.
Dyslexia is a language processing
disorder that can hinder reading,
writing, spelling, and sometimes even
speaking. According to the International
Dyslexia Association, when
writing cursive, the words jotted down
become a unit, rather than a series of
separate strokes, and that may contribute
to better spelling. And since all
lowercase cursive letters begin on the
line, fewer of them are likely to be reversed.
The cons of cursive
writing
There are various reasons why people
think lessons in cursive writing
are unnecessary:
Cursive writing is only used in
signatures. Cursive writing is seldom
used except for signatures. Even then,
e-signing and online transactions have
removed the need to write in cursive.
Typing on a keyboard should
take precedence. Many parents and
educators believe that cursive writing
lessons do little to prepare young students
for an increasingly digital world.
Such opponents of cursive writing suggest
keyboarding lessons should take
precedence over teaching handwriting
skills. Teachers have admitted
that cursive writing lessons take a lot
of time, and many simply cannot devote
classroom time to them.
Digital texts make it obsolete.
Some argue that those who do not
know how to read in cursive can never
understand historical texts or early
manuscripts. However, so much has
been transcribed into digital texts that
this argument is seen by many as outdated.
Cursive writing may be going the
way of the dinosaur. But the debate
about the value of cursive writing fi gures
to continue.
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