This is one of those topics which we all have our own prejudices and preferences calling the shots. I’ll come clean up front; I think that there is real value in learning things which take effort and long periods of time to master, such as learning to write cursively, developing reasonable mastery over basic numerical manipulation (i.e. the multiplication tables and other traditional elementary school meat grinders).
Having stated that, my only real criticism of what may be a sea change towards a ‘typist’ future is the speed in which this decision has taken place. I have seen this moving over the whole national education establishment over only a couple of years. I suspect that cursive writing was merely tossed out as a way to show how overworked and over packed current school curricula is (it may very well be!).
I don’t even have that much of a problem with this; my problem is the sloppy sort of incrementalism which these sorts of changes are based upon.
What are your ideas about this?
Should We Still Teach Students to Write in Cursive?
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/09/should-we-still-teach-students-to-write-in-cursive
HANDWRITING: AN ELEGY
http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/ideas/ann-wroe/handwriting-elegy
The End of Cursive Handwriting in Georgia?
http://www.onlineschools.org/education-debate/the-end-of-cursive-handwriting-in-georgia/
Typing Beats Scribbling: Indiana Schools Can Stop Teaching Cursive
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/06/typing-beats-scribbling-indiana-schools-can-stop-teaching-cursive/
Nation of adults who will write like children?
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-08-10/living/handwriting.horror_1_cursive-teaching-handwriting-love-letter?_s=PM:LIVING
