Tradition vs Technology: Cursive is making a comeback in Ontario schools

Come September and teaching of Cursive writing will become compulsory in all Ontario schools. The decision of the Ontario government has met with mixed reaction,  as several experts have welcomed it while some organizations of teachers, however, have called it hasty as little or no time has been given to teachers to prepare themselves for the reintroduction of the subject from grade 3 onwards.

Of late there has been an animated debate going on in academic circles over the adverse impact of technology on early child or junior school education. Those opposed to the introduction of technology as part of teaching and learning aids for early child education maintained that the new generation of children do not know how to hold a pen or pencil and are thus unable even to write their names on a piece of paper. They can do it very well on their iPads, laptops, desktops and other gadgets.

Tech-savvy, however, dismiss such assumptions as frivolous and hold that there are software  and programs that enable a child to master writing, drawing and painting skills.

Some countries have, however, decided to toe the middle line by providing facilities in both traditional and pen-paper free environs.

Ontario has joined the group of middle liners.  Its Education Minister Stephen Lecce says “it is about more than just teaching students how to sign their own name.”

It was in 2006 that an optional piece of learning- Cursive writing – was relegated in Ontario elementary schools. After 17 years, it is now set to return as a mandatory part of the curriculum starting  September this year.

Stephen Lecce in a recent media interview was quoted as saying :”The research has been very clear that cursive writing is a critical life skill in helping young people to express more substantively, to think more critically, and ultimately, to express more authentically.”

“That’s what we’re trying to do, to create a very talented generation of young people who have mastered the fundamental skills, like reading, writing, and math, that are the foundations of any successful productive life in the country, ” says Stephen Lecce.

It is not only cursive writing. A host of other changes are in the offing in the new language curriculum of Ontario schools. Under the revised curriculum, there will be increased focus on phonics as well. The Ontario Human Rights Commission in its report last year had  said that the province’s public education system was failing students with reading disabilities and others by not using evidence-based approaches.

Ontario’s new language curriculum, set to be in place for the new school year, introduces a host of changes, including a renewed focus on phonics.

Prabhjot Singh