Teaching in the digital literacy era of the 21^st Century may lead to wider perceptions that handwriting (HW) is not an important or necessary skill. The question of whether HW is a 21^st century skills is addressed by reviewing current literature that explores teachers’ perspectives on HW, how HW is documented in the curriculum, the importance of fluency and legibility and how digital technologies can be used to enhance and support the development of HW instead of replacing or accommodating handwriting.

Teacher's Perspective of Handwriting

Handwriting instruction produces statistically significant gains in fluency and legibility (Santangelo & Graham, 2016). It is therefore important that HW is valued by all teachers, especially in the early years settings where the HW skills and values of learners are established. In an Australian study of early writers, confusion as to how and when to teach handwriting in the early years setting was raised (Mackenzie & Petriwskyj, 2017). Although valued, a lack of understanding of how to support difficulties was highlighted by the statement, “The kids often have awful pencil grips, can’t use scissors and their letter formation is terrible but I don’t know what to do about it” (Mackenzie & Petriwskyj, 2017, p. 81).  Similarly, another study exploring teachers’ perspectives and expectations also found that teacher’s were unsure of how to support students with handwriting difficulties. In this study, McNamee & Patton (2018) found that teachers were open to collaborating with Occupational Therapists to support learners. Teachers could clearly identify the barriers to handwriting but primarily wanted support in the form of aids and interventions, rather than instructional strategies that provide support within the classroom, suggesting that teachers do not feel confident supporting students with handwriting needs.

Not knowing how to support HW difficulties is a common theme in the literature reviewed. Graham (2010) surveyed teachers and found that even though 90% taught handwriting, only 46% felt their students could write at a pace to keep up with the curriculum. Most concerning was that only 12% of teachers felt that they were adequately trained in HW instruction. As students move beyond the early years, they are expected to handwrite in all subjects. Berninger, Nagy, Tanimoto, Thompson, & Abbott (2015) emphasise this point by stating writing about reading is a common practice in the middle and senior years. Competent readers that are struggling writers are further disadvantaged as their HW prevents them from demonstrating their understandings in literacy and across all subject areas. 

Curriculum Guidelines Falling Short

Curriculum guidelines for handwriting state the importance of style, fluency and legibility, however clear expectations for how to explicitly teach HW are not evidenced in national documentation (Graham, Harris, & Fink, 2000; Freeman, Mackinnon, & Miller, 2005; Malpique, Pino-Pasternak, & Valcan, 2017). Knowing how to teach and assess HW is fundamental to academic success and raises the issue of curriculum documentation not being explicit enough in this area. This issue is highlighted by Dombek & Al Otaiba (2016) who further address the need for curriculum-based measurements to assess writers. Research literature outlines the mean number of characters or words per minute for each grade level (Graham, 2010; Freeman, Mackinnon, & Miller, 2005). Including quantifiable data in curriculum guidelines enables teachers to make evidence-informed decisions, and allows adjustments and interventions to be made more appropriately.

Digital technologies or pencil/paper methods?

Three very different studies on handwriting and the use of devices all concluded that digital technologies should not replace handwritten methods because HW is the main form of written expression used in classrooms (McMaster & Roberts, 2015; Berninger, Nagy, Tanimoto, Thompson, & Abbott, 2015; Wollscheid, Sjaastad, & Tomte, 2015). A study in three Victorian schools found that handwriting was used more than devices throughout the school day (McMaster & Roberts, 2015). Instead of using technology to replace handwriting, Berninger et al. (2015) explored how technology can be used to improve writing, concluding that devices can be used to improve rather than accommodate difficulties. Interestingly, in a review of literature exploring HW over digital technology, it was concluded that both cognitive and neuroscience disciplines support the development of HW over digital technologies, however socio-cultural disciplines prefer the use of digital technologies over HW (Wollscheid, Sjaastad, & Tomte, 2015).

Teacher Training, Assessments & Explicit Handwriting Instruction

To conclude, given that there was limited studies for automaticity in the early years, more research in this area is recommended (Mackenzie & Petriwskyj, 2017; Malpique, Pino-Pasternak, & Valcan, 2017).  This review has emphasised the importance of teacher training to improve instructional strategies, especially given that HW instruction produces higher quality and quantity of student writing (Santangelo & Graham, 2016). In addition, developing effective assessments that align with how to explicitly teach HW would strengthen curriculum documentation, further supporting the development of this fundamental skill. This is important, not only to enable academic success, but to provide continued access to the curriculum for all students.

References

Works Cited

          Berninger, V. W., Abbott, R. D., Jones, J., Wolf, B. J., Gould, L., Anderson-Youngstrom, M., . . . Apel, K. (2006). Early development of language by hand: Composing, reading, listening and speaking connections; Three letter-writing modes; and fast mapping in spelling. Developmental Neuropsychology, 29(1), 61-92.

          Berninger, V. W., Nagy, W., Tanimoto, S., Thompson, R., & Abbott, R. D. (2015). Computer Instruction in handwriting, spelling, and composing for students with specific learning disabilities in grades 4-9. Computers and Education, 81, 154-168.

          Dombek, J. L., & Al Otaiba, S. (2016). Curriculum based measurement for beginning writers (K-2). Intervention in School and Clinic, 51(5), 276-283.

          Freeman, A. R., Mackinnon, J. R., & Miller, L. T. (2005). Keyboarding for students with handwriting problems: a literature review. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 119-147.

          Gentry, R. J., & Graham, S. (2010). Creating better readers and writers: The importance of direct, systematic spelling and handwriting instruction in improving academic performance. Retrieved from Literacy How: http://www.literacyhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/HW_CreatingBetterReadersandWriters.pdf

          Graham, S. (2010). Want to improve children's writing? Don't neglect their handwriting. Education Digest: Essential readings condensed for quick review, 76(1), pp. 49-55. Retrieved from American Federation of Teachers: https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/graham.pdf

          Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Fink, B. (2000). Is Hadnwriting causally related to learning to write? Treatment of handwriting problems in beginning writers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 620-633.

          Mackenzie, N. M., & Petriwskyj, A. (2017). Understanding and supporting young writers: Opening the school gate. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 42, 78-87.

          Malpique, A. A., Pino-Pasternak, D., & Valcan, D. (2017). Handwriting automaticity and writing instruction in Australian kindergarten: and exploratory study. Reading and Writing - an interdisciplinary journal, 1789-1812.

McMaster, E., & Roberts, T. (2015, April 26). Handwriting in 2015: A main occupation for primary school-aged children in the classroom? Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention, 2016(9:1), 38-50.

          McNamee, T., & Patton, S. (2018, January 3). Teachers perspectives on handwriting and collaborative intervention for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy, 46(1), 46-58.

          Santangelo, T., & Graham, S. (2016). A comprehensive meta-analysis of handwriting instruction. Educational Psychology Review, 225-265.

          Wollscheid, S., Sjaastad, J., & Tomte, C. (2015, December 24). The impact of digital devices vs. Pen(cil) and paper on primary school students' writing skills - A research review. Computers and Education , 19-35.