CSMC starts new programme for primary schoolsWith Stylus, Brush, or Quill

6 March 2023

Photo: Karsten Helmholz

What does writing look like across cultures? Which writing tools did people use to write in the past? And what role did and do manuscripts play in people’s everyday lives? A new CSMC programme for primary schools introduces children to the cultural diversity of writing in a playful way.

Even in today’s digital age, learning how to write by hand remains the most important milestone in die education of children at primary school. This skill is crucial for their cognitive development as it stimulates their memory, comprehension, and creativity. However, especially during the pandemic, the writing ability of schoolkids in Germany has continued to decline. In a 2022 survey, one in four teachers identified a negative development: children write more slowly, unstructured, and illegibly than before the pandemic. Even then, about half of all children, especially boys, had problems with their handwriting.

Learning to write is not only important for children’s cognitive development, however. As a key cultural technique, writing is also essential for intercultural understanding and exchange. Based on this idea, CSMC has recently developed a new teaching programme for primary schools: ‘Mit Griffel, Pinsel oder Federkiel: Schrift und Schreiben(lernen) in den Kulturen der Welt’ (‘With Stylus, Brush, or Quill: Writing in the Cultures of the World’) was launched in March 2023.

The programme allows children to approach a variety of intriguing questions. What does writing look like across cultures? Which writing tools did people use to write in the past? And what role did and do manuscripts play in people’s everyday lives? Against the background of language diversity in classrooms today, the programme fosters intercultural competence and the understanding of writing as a cultural technique. Last but not least, it also supports children in their own process of learning to write in an informative and playful way.