Writing is one of the basic communicative activities that man has created to preserve his thoughts. The first writings were simple, made from natural materials, but later writings became more complex, written with pen on paper. In an age of technological advances, typing and note-taking on smart devices is increasingly replacing traditional (pen and paper) methods of note-taking. The school system is also exposed to this change, raising the question of whether teaching handwriting in a crowded school system is even worthwhile anymore and which type of letters are worth teaching, given that the digital world is dominated by small print, while cursive letters are increasingly disappearing from everyday use. However, there are many research results in favour of teaching handwriting, which show that writing with a pen on paper activates a larger part of the brain, stimulates the functioning and integration of the two hemispheres of the brain, and helps to increase memorability, especially when the text is written in cursive letters.
In the master's thesis, we investigated the views of classroom teachers on the teaching of handwriting and on the use of handwritten letters in the classroom.
The theoretical part is divided into four parts: chapters 1 and 2 introduce writing and literacy, while chapters 3 and 4 cover the impact of digitisation on the teaching of handwriting and the integration of writing and typing into the curriculum.
The empirical part presents the results of the survey. It consisted of two parts - an online questionnaire and a transcript of fifth-grade pupils. The first part (the online questionnaire) was completed by 82 classroom teachers and the second part by 65 pupils from two parent schools and one branch school who attended Year 5 in the school year 2023/24.
The results of the analysis of the online questionnaire showed that teachers still find it useful to teach handwriting in all subjects with both types of letters (cursive and printed), with the majority of teachers encouraging handwriting in all subjects. Most teachers believe that there is enough time to cover letters sequentially (first printed, then written) - two lessons are sufficient for most teachers to cover one printed/written letter. Teachers encourage pupils to write more legibly (defined by most teachers as 'legible') before or during each writing session, and almost half assess legibility, but most do not have specific criteria for assessing legibility. Almost all teachers consider that pupils write most legibly in block capitals. Writing or typing texts on a (tablet) computer is included as part of the regular curriculum for a minority of teachers, and pupils rarely receive permission from teachers to take notes on smart devices. The majority of teachers do not consider that the teaching of typing is one of the learning objectives in the Slovenian curriculum, as this skill belongs to other (optional) subjects (e.g. computer science/multimedia) or is more suitable for pupils in higher grades (subject level).
The results of the analysis of the transcription of the shorter text of the fifth-graders showed that, despite their voluntary choice of the type of letters, the fifth-graders write mostly in written letters, and only rarely in a combination of written and printed letters or in printed letters only. When combined, they most often combine the letters of the written alphabet and capital d and p, and the letters of the written alphabet and lower case j, l and g.
Based on the theoretical background and the results of the research, we have developed guidelines for classroom teachers on teaching handwriting, legibility of handwriting and the use of handwritten letters in the classroom. Handwriting is a skill that cannot be replaced by typing, but in the age of digitalisation it can be approached by replacing the fountain pen with a smart pen, as this evokes the same motor impulses and cognitive processes as writing with a pen on paper, but certainly not typing.
Handwriting is certainly a skill that makes sense to maintain in the classroom, but since digitisation is unavoidable in schools, instead of typing, students (in the upper grades) could be offered the opportunity to write by hand on tablets, which has a beneficial effect on brain development, just as writing with a pen on paper does. It would be a good idea for teachers to allow pupils to write as soon as possible in the type of handwriting that allows them to write the fastest and most legibly, whether in block or cursive letters. There is a great deal of encouragement needed during the literacy process, and even more during the consolidation period. The greatest impact on legibility can be achieved in the first year, but only if the writing is regularly monitored and pupils are given quality feedback on its appearance according to carefully designed criteria.
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