Why are American and Canadian schools bringing back cursive?

Schools in the US and Canada have reincorporated cursive writing into their curricula over the past few years. The tendency has reopened the debate about its necessity.

In the US, 23 states have mandatory cursive writing units for early grades in public schools. The number has doubled since 2015, when only 11 required it.

In 2023, California and New Hampshire were the latest states to join the list. Still, at least five other states are considering a bill to incorporate cursive as mandatory.

In Canada, most provinces require students to learn cursive writing. According to CBC, only four regions consider it optional and leave the decision to teachers.

Ontario was the latest province to reintroduce the mandate to teach cursive writing in 2023. The province had removed the requirement in 2006.

Conversely, teaching cursive has always been a part of the spelling and writing curriculum in the UK. Students are expected to fluently write in cursive by Year 5 (9 years old).

The return of the writing style to English curricula has sparked debate among educators: in an increasingly digital world, is it beneficial to dedicate precious time to teaching cursive?

There is plenty of evidence to support handwriting over keyboards in language education. Prioritizing the use of technology to write in the classroom can be detrimental.

According to an essay by a Psychology Today expert, handwriting helps students simultaneously engage cognitive, motor, and perceptual skills.

It also wires their brain for reading. According to the expert, research has shown that handwriting is crucial to learning to read and spell better.

It can also make adults and children better learners: research shows that taking notes by hand instead of a keyboard helps students capture the information better before writing it.

Furthermore, handwriting fosters creative and critical thinking skills. Handwriting fluency helps students create more complex and meaningful compositions.

So, an evidence-based approach quickly solves the debate on handwriting in the classroom. However, this debate has another layer: print vs cursive writing.

In most curriculums, students first learn the letters in print. Then, as they are more familiar with writing, they switch to cursive. But, as the style disappears from daily life, is it necessary for students to make the switch?

One of the most common arguments in favor of cursive, particularly in the US, is that students should be able to read historical documents and not only transcriptions of them.

Another upside for cursive is that it is easier to automatize. University of Calgary expert Hetty Roessingh told CBC that printing style costs more working memory as the pencil leaves the page.

Still, a 2012 occupational therapy study comparing the two styles concluded there is too little evidence to favor one. What is clear is that handwriting is always a better choice.