A SHOCKING RETRO DEVELOPMENT AT A SCHOOL
The school is called the Mary Erskine and Stewart’s Melville Junior School in Scotland, with approximately 1,200 students. It is teaching a subject that is actually reviving two lost arts at the same time.
The two lost arts are handwriting, and handwriting with a fountain pen.
I find this a shocker, albeit a positive one though, because I actually had this subject when I was in grade school. During my time in grade school, there were probably as many fountain pens as there were ball pens, and we learned to use both equally well. I remember submitting homework written with a fountain pen, and actually bringing fountain pen ink in my school bag along with other requisite school supplies.
This is in stark contrast to other recent developments in other schools, like a school district in another country allowing students to use “text-speak” in their exams.
Now mind you, the Scottish school does not disdain modern technology and actually teaches a full range of computer lessons. Students are not forced to use fountain pens in all school work, but may use ball pen and even pencils for math work, for example. Surprisingly, most parents support the school in this particular approach, which may appear outmoded to some.
Is this just a revival of an ancient, lost art, or is there some academic benefit to this subject, other than of course having beautiful penmanship?
The school principal claims that the fountain pens have helped boost academic performance. The pens force the students to write more carefully, thereby improving the quality of their work. He makes a final point that proper handwriting is as relevant today as it has ever been.
I doubt if this “new” subject will catch like wildfire in the academic world. The tide of course is going the other way, swept by the ubiquitous use of computers, hand-held gadgets, cell-phones and texting.
But it is encouraging and even heart-warming to read that there are still some educators with old fashioned values, and more than that, have the gumption and the conviction to implement and impart these values to young students.
May their tribe increase.
The two lost arts are handwriting, and handwriting with a fountain pen.
I find this a shocker, albeit a positive one though, because I actually had this subject when I was in grade school. During my time in grade school, there were probably as many fountain pens as there were ball pens, and we learned to use both equally well. I remember submitting homework written with a fountain pen, and actually bringing fountain pen ink in my school bag along with other requisite school supplies.
This is in stark contrast to other recent developments in other schools, like a school district in another country allowing students to use “text-speak” in their exams.
Now mind you, the Scottish school does not disdain modern technology and actually teaches a full range of computer lessons. Students are not forced to use fountain pens in all school work, but may use ball pen and even pencils for math work, for example. Surprisingly, most parents support the school in this particular approach, which may appear outmoded to some.
Is this just a revival of an ancient, lost art, or is there some academic benefit to this subject, other than of course having beautiful penmanship?
The school principal claims that the fountain pens have helped boost academic performance. The pens force the students to write more carefully, thereby improving the quality of their work. He makes a final point that proper handwriting is as relevant today as it has ever been.
I doubt if this “new” subject will catch like wildfire in the academic world. The tide of course is going the other way, swept by the ubiquitous use of computers, hand-held gadgets, cell-phones and texting.
But it is encouraging and even heart-warming to read that there are still some educators with old fashioned values, and more than that, have the gumption and the conviction to implement and impart these values to young students.
May their tribe increase.
posted by jay de leon at 4:14 PM
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