http://progressiveboink.com/archive/calvinhobbes.htm Being a student and an elementary education major, I can thoroughly relate to this Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. In this instance, Calvin is arguing that the information he learns for his tests is not only “useless” but that he can simply “manipulate” the system by passively memorizing the material without actually learning anything. The ironic part is that Calvin does not even get the date the Pilgrims arrived on Plymouth Rock right. Calvin’s last comment, “they say the satisfaction of teaching makes up for the lousy pay,” makes me assume that while this strip can be enjoyed by all, especially those reminiscing of their own schooling, I think it specifically focuses on the education field as its audience. The comic strip challenges teachers to consider the value of the content they present and their forms of assessment so that their students are not simply regurgitating facts but really understanding concepts.
A theme of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips is that this little sarcastic boy talks about some pretty serious and grown up issues. The writer, Bill Watterson, does a good job of appealing to school age people who can relate to making it through classes on pure memorization skills. He also grabs educators’ attentions when he uses his sarcastic humor to imply that there is not much satisfaction in teaching when the students do not learn anything which is powerful on both a logical and an emotional level. This comic strip could even be used to argue against multiple choice type standardized testing and in favor of a performance skills based assessment. While one part of me laughs as I think about the way some of my schooling applies to this circumstance, the future teacher in me is hoping that my students will not feel the same way Calvin does. Bill Watterson is successful at producing comics that not only make the audience laugh but also think allowing the audience to take it as deep as he or she wants to.
A theme of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips is that this little sarcastic boy talks about some pretty serious and grown up issues. The writer, Bill Watterson, does a good job of appealing to school age people who can relate to making it through classes on pure memorization skills. He also grabs educators’ attentions when he uses his sarcastic humor to imply that there is not much satisfaction in teaching when the students do not learn anything which is powerful on both a logical and an emotional level. This comic strip could even be used to argue against multiple choice type standardized testing and in favor of a performance skills based assessment. While one part of me laughs as I think about the way some of my schooling applies to this circumstance, the future teacher in me is hoping that my students will not feel the same way Calvin does. Bill Watterson is successful at producing comics that not only make the audience laugh but also think allowing the audience to take it as deep as he or she wants to.
1 comment:
Calvin and Hobbes has aways been a favorite strip of mine, and every time I read it I always get something new out of it. I was surprised how relevant this strip was to today's educational crises, given that it was published years ago. I also have felt like Calvin during the tests (especially the standardized ones) that I had to take-- like I was learning something that would inevitably be forgotten simply to please someone else,.
I agree that education should provide both logical and emotional content. I know that one source of the latter-- the arts-- has recently been dwindling among many public schools due to lack of funding. Not only can such lessons in emotion help us learn about ourselves, they can help us become more well-rounded individuals and so more productive members of society. Too bad it's hard to test.
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