Cursive Writing

On her Washington Post education blog, Valerie Strauss poses the question “Should cursivewriting be required? A N.C. bill would mandate it.” The bill would add cursive the standard curriculum in North Carolina, a skill not included in the Common Core. Apparently, some consider printing sufficient for schoolwork whereas others consider cursive important to write creatively.

I don't think the issue is one of creativity as suggested in this article. Being creative depends on how you learn to communicate and think. I think in English. Other people think in Chinese. I happen to think at the keyboard. My wife thinks better with a pen in her hand. We're both creative writers. My form of writing capitalizes on functionalities hers does not since my work is always where I left it, easy to scan, readily spellchecked, easy to edit, and it never has to be typed when it's done. Still, my wife is an extremely creative writer, using the tools she was taught. If we teach kids early to write on computers, they'll learn to write, creatively, on computers.

The issue may really be access to technology. Do all kids have personal computers or other electronic devices? And what it they lose them? If I lose my pencil, I get a new one today. If I lose my laptop, it's a bigger deal. I can readily picture word processing totally supplanting the need for cursive writing, but we have to make sure that children have (and sometimes break or lose) the devices they need.

I have a final but primary concern about handwriting and that is its relationship to homework. Current academic policies include time based school days, but time estimated (really content based) homework sessions. Whether children print, use cursive, or type their assignments, they don't all work at the same speed. This creates a major problem with homework since, unlike school, it must be worked on until it is done. With that philosophy, there will always be children who are left behind because they cannot do the work within the estimated amounts of time. If we don't teach them cursive, but require them to do their assignments in paper and pencil form, and don't set time boundaries on what they have to do, we set some up for failure, and that is neither productive nor fair.


_{For more information on Dr. Goldberg's model, read other postings on this blog, visit his website, The Homework Trap, or read his book, The Homework Trap: How to Save the Sanity of Parents, Students and Teachers.} 

  

Respecting Teachers

Today, the Washington Post reprinted an article extracted from a blog written by Corey Robin entitled “Why people look down on teachers.” Mr. Robin’s opinions are based on his experiences as a student and a teacher and he comes to the conclusion that teachers are perceived, in our society, as those who were not able to achieve as well as doctors, lawyers, and other professionals. He points out that, although teachers vary in their abilities, this is true of people in all walks of life and not a reason to put teachers down. He points out that one or two teachers can truly enhance the course of a young person’s life.  Although I agree with these points, I think Mr. Robin fails to understand the most important reason why many parents have problems with teachers.

As a parent and a psychologist, my experience tells me that the primary issue is that teachers encroach on the parents’ turf, where they insist on using techniques that don’t actually work. I believe that negativity toward teachers is a backlash rooted in their intrusion on the home.

I am a parent of three children. I recall feeling excited walking my oldest son to school the first day. I listened intently at Back to School Night to everything that his teacher said. I didn’t care if he had the best teacher in the world, or one who was simply qualified to teach the class. I expected him to listen to and respect his teachers, and I gave them the respect they deserved. Along the way, I had doubts about a couple of his teachers, but that did not matter. For the most part, he was given an excellent education, and had the good fortune to meet a few exceptional teachers along the way.  My second child’s experience was similar. I respected both children’s teachers and their teachers respected me.

With my third child, my views changed.  Like his older siblings, he was bright, personable, and able to learn, and would have if his teachers had stayed focused on his education and what happened in the classroom. But he did not do his homework, which I understood was a problem that I needed to address.  I was unprepared to learn how powerless I was in deciding what to do. If a problem had happened in the class, I would have readily deferred to the teacher’s judgment. But this was my house, and the authority should have been mine. It was not. I had no power to decide on the best course of action, and as a result, his education went downhill.  In the end, his teachers had authority over me and had the right to fail him, to detain him after school, to detain him on Saturday morning, and to exclude him from sports over my better judgment.

I’m a psychologist, so I started listening to my patients from a new point of view. I began to realize that the bulk of behavioral problems that were brought to my attention were actually homework problems, and that the source of homework noncompliance was not a lack of motivation or deficits in the parents, but learning problems in disguise. By disempowering parents rather than addressing the learning problems, the children acted out at the cost of their educations. Again, homework is a moot point if your child does well, as was the case with my two older children. When there are problems, which I estimate apply, at varying degrees, to 10-25% of all children, the results can be devastating.

There is an important fact about homework that the public does not know, which is that teachers are not adequately trained to give homework. Open a catalogue of any school of education and look for the course called “Homework.” Visit a website that is designed for teachers and see how many articles you find on homework. Look  at the program of a teacher’s conference or convention and see if there are sessions devoted to homework. You’ll be surprised at how little attention teachers give to a  professional technique they regard so highly (and factor heavily into the grade).

The writer of this article bemoans the respect teachers are afforded in comparison to those in other professions.  But don’t we expect that doctors will be trained in the things that they do? I’m a psychologist whose practice consists of therapy and testing. I had courses with titles like “The theories of psychotherapy,” and “The principles of psychological testing.” Ask your child’s teacher at Back to School Night what courses or continuing education he or she had to support the approach to homework that teacher uses.

I think we should respect our teachers and I certainly do. I respect any person who can meet with 20 to 30 children, sustain their attention, maintain order, and teach them the things they need to know. I didn’t choose that field and frankly I don’t think it is something I could do.  I’m frankly awed by teachers.  If they stayed on their turf and focused on the things they were trained to do, I would respect them even more.

Visit The Homework Trap website

Dr. Kenneth Goldberg, is the author of The Homework Trap: How to Save the Sanity of Parents, Teachers, and Students, published by Wyndmoor Press.

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A very telling omission -- homework

Today, Washington Post Education writer Valerie Strauss posted comments from five DC superintendents. Not one mentioned homework. I find that shocking (I guess I shouldn't be shocked) and sad. Do you feel the same as I do? Here's the link to the article. Here's what I posted as a comment in the Washington Post.

I find this to be an extremely disturbing article. Five superintendents are asked to discuss education policy and not one mentions homework. The one who comes closest is Mr. Dale who notes the need for creative play yet fails to touch on the fact that homework encroaches on family time, and hence, interferes with the child’s spontaneous creative play. This is an extremely serious problem for children with hands-on skills who have difficulty with their homework, and for whom hours doing what more academically inclined children can do with ease prevents them from building and fixing things on their own.  When will the budding mechanic have time to take apart, clean and put his bike back together when he and his parents are forced to spend hours fighting over assignments that fail to pique his interest? Where’s the recognition that homework gets little support in the academic research? And when talking about teacher training and preparation, where is the acknowledgement that teachers are not generally taught the theory, research, and practice of homework-giving when they go to school to learn how to teach?

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Visit The Homewor Trap website

Dr. Kenneth Goldberg, is the author of The Homework Trap: How to Save the Sanity of Parents, Teachers, and Students, published by Wyndmoor Press.