Didactics of first-year writing in the context of entry skills and attitudes of first-year teacher education students

Abstract

The paper presents results of the research investigation that was focused on the level of graphomotor skills among fi rst year students of the Faculty of Education at Liberec. The study aimed to gather information about the baseline state of students‘ skills and attitudes as a foundation for subsequent instruction. The research sample consisted of 101 students who were enrolled in fi rst-year programs for primary school teaching, kindergarten teaching, and pedagogical studies. The students‘ written expression was evaluated through the analysis of written sample sentences, grip of writing materials through photographic documentation, and the results of a questionnaire that focused on the perspective of teaching primary writing in the next 10–20 years in light of the ongoing advancement of digital technologies. The fi ndings revealed that approximately 70 % of the students wrote neatly, and that only 5 % of the respondents had worse handwriting, where some words were less readable. In terms of grip on writing utensils, the results were somewhat surprising, with only 34 % of students having a good grip. Of the remaining 66 % with incorrect grip, a spasmodic grip with a bent index fi nger was found to predominate. A very positive fi nding was that students deemed the teaching of early writing to be very important; 56 % believed that teaching should remain the same or with only minor modifi cations, 37 % of respondents were in favor of teaching to a lesser extent, and only 7 % expected it to be completely overtaken by digital technology. The results of the survey confi rm that individuals with a positive attitude towards the field apply to study teaching, and that instruction at the TUL FP has a good potential for the development of early reading and writing skills among pupils at primary school level 1.