Have schoolchildren forgotten how to handwrite?
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Why does handwriting light up the brain more than typing?
Now take a listen to this.
Handwriting must return to centre stage in the classroom. The meticulous scans show the whole network of the brain lit up like a Christmas tree during handwriting and dark as a cellar during typing. The physical process of handwriting appears to trance the ease of typing in every cognitive metric. It is also personal. A child's handwriting connects him to the subject he's writing about. The same is true of a teacher's handwriting on a submitted piece of work. Receiving personal, not robotically generated, feedback is essential for continued motivation. The educational research of John Jerim conducted a lengthy experiment which saw three thousand pupils take PISA tests in maths, science and reading. Half the students conducted all their work on paper, half did all their work on a computer.
The paper based group scored twenty points higher, which is the equivalent of six months extra schooling.
That is the voice of actress and campaigner Sophie Winkleman. She recently gave that speech, which went viral, where she laid out the damage, as she sees it, of the screen based school day. Have school children forgotten to write by hand, and should that skill return centre stage, as she says, to the classroom? I'm joined by National School Principal Simon Lewis, Dr. Melissa Pronty, Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy at the University of University of Limerick and chair of the National Handwriting Association in the UK. I'm also joined by Ali Bunbury, novelist and co founder founder of Letter Writing Heroes, and we'll hear about that in a minute. Simon, I might start with you. Very powerful argument um there from Sophie Winkleman for stepping away from screens in school, returning to physical books and handwriting.
Does she have a point?
Uh yes, she she absolutely does. Um I but I do think it's a little bit more nuanced than that. Uh blaming technology uh completely for everything might uh be a little bit unfair. I think education trends uh changed a little bit about twenty years ago and uh I remember when I was training to be a teacher, uh, a lot of what was uh coming down the line was it wasn't what it wasn't how the children wrote, it was what they were writing was more important.
What did the PISA study reveal about paper versus screen work?
So there was a little bit of a trend of not really worrying about the art of handwriting. And I think since then uh we've probably realized uh that Some things might not have been considered about what handwriting actually does. And uh the video that you played there uh certainly tells some of that story. But I also think uh what we're hearing now is uh fine motor skills um that that can be developed. The pincer grip is so important. Uh and but I mean the thing is handwriting's definitely happening in schools. Uh it hasn't gone away, uh, certainly at primary level. Uh I mean we have handwriting books on our book lists, I think almost every school does. I think the question I'd be asking is how much handwriting is going on at home?
Uh are children colouring in colouring books anymore? Um, you know, uh are they writing letters to pen pals? Those sort of things. And if they're doing projects now, are they typing them or are they writing them? Uh so I think I think uh the questions maybe bigger than schools.
Yeah, okay, I want to bring Melissa in. Morning Melissa. Morning. The National Handwriting Association. How'd you get involved in that?
Well, um I lived in the UK for many years and spent twelve years at Brunel University of London and was involved in the NHA. I mean what they do is they promote awareness of handwriting and typing in schools. They do things like CPG for teachers, occupational therapists, people who are working with kids.
Right. And the s the education system in England is a bit different from here when it comes to handwriting because some G C S E exams no longer have to be handwritten. You can type your your exam paper, is that it?
That's right.
How is the National Handwriting Association influencing schools today?
But they have just introduced something called the writing framework in primary and secondary education and they have outcomes for handwriting every single year um in school there.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why does handwriting light up the brain more than typing?
0:01–2:24
2
What did the PISA study reveal about paper versus screen work?
2:24–3:57
3
How is the National Handwriting Association influencing schools today?
3:57–6:12
4
What impact does letter‑writing have on children’s motivation and learning?
6:12–8:50
5
How does handwriting speed predict spelling, grammar and overall writing quality?
8:50–10:50
6
What are the emotional and mental health benefits of writing by hand?
10:50–12:44
7
How can parents encourage regular handwriting practice at home?
12:44–15:03
8
What practical tips do educators give for integrating handwriting into curricula?
15:03–16:34