The Forgotten Art of Handwriting – Relevant in the 21stCentury?

An article about handwriting or what was once called “penmanship” appeared in the Fairfax press yesterday (26 March 2012). To quote:

“ONCE penmanship was an art and handwriting a skill developed through endless practice. Now, teachers say, cursive handwriting is disappearing from secondary schools, leaving many senior students unable to write quickly or fluently. The finger is being pointed at technology.”

“By the time students arrive in high school many dump the cursive style they have been taught in primary school and take on childlike printing — with boys in particular often using block capital letters to write sentences”

There appears to be two schools of thought on this; one that says effectively to move with the times, who writes anymore anyway and another that laments at the decline in fundamental skills.

I was once told by a teacher, when querying about the lack of school and parent focus on handwriting, “don’t worry, they have spellchecker in Microsoft Word“. And who can argue with that logic. We don’t handwrite reports; we use Microsoft Word or the like. We don’t handwrite letters; we email. We don’t handwrite notes; we SMS or use one of the many smartphone or tablet apps.

All of the above also applies to me. I use technology extensively – this newsletter for example. Written in Word and sent to you as an email.

But I still believe the ability to write legibly is up there with the ability to spell (without the use of spellchecker), read, do basic math and comprehend.

The current research indicates that handwriting improves brain development, helping children to write in full sentences and increases cognitive capacity …fundamental stuff!

What has this got to do with 21^st Century professional and personal growth? A great deal.
Writing, along with reading and maths are foundational skills; without these, one builds a proverbial “house on the sand”.

Without the basics, more complex skills become harder to attain and maintain. This could lead to a life on the economic 'scrapheap' as those with the basics move faster and further away from where you are and the jobs you have the skills for slowly disappear.

The Phil’s-osophy

Write by hand when you can. Keep writing by hand. Never ever lose this skill. Keep on revising your reading, writing and mathematic skills. These three form the foundations.

Because should the lights go out, the fundamental skills are the key to getting back into the sunlight.

To your success,
Phil.
http://www.philipwagner.com.au/