Cursive: What will be lost?

When cursive handwriting was removed from core curricula across the country and replaced with keyboarding, I wanted to understand what might disappear with it. For my final thesis, I explored the cognitive, developmental, and creative benefits of cursive to determine what educational principles could be lost and how those losses might influence fields like graphic design.

The project required a printed piece that communicated our research to the public in any format we chose. Before presenting my findings, I created an installation in the teachers’ lounge at a local elementary school. Each day, teachers were invited to answer a new question about their memories of learning cursive or their current understanding of its value. Their responses shaped a living conversation that set the stage for the lecture that followed.

That dialogue proved memorable. Years later, the teachers still recall the discussion and the renewed appreciation it sparked for the role of handwriting in learning.