How smart would Calvin have been?

[shishio45]

Much of the discussion on education has been whether or not our school system is properly managing the job of recognizing and adapting to all kinds of intelligence. To in an essence be able to see the potential in all different kind of students and encourage accordingly. the debate on education has been filled with stories of absolutely remarkable people who felt stunted or dismissed in the childhood school experience.

So this got me thinking about my favorite comic, Calvin and Hobbes. Which led me to a few questions about Calvin. Was Calvin Gifted? If so how much? And if so how would Calvin do in our modern education system?

[Tirian]

As fate would have it, last semester in my Intro to Special Education class one of my major projects was to write an FBA/BIP/IEP for a fictional character, and I chose Calvin. My finding was that his ADHD (combined type) was so profound that it was impossible to predict what was lurking underneath it. Could be a gifted intellect, could be Oppositional Defiant Disorder, could be juvenile onset schizophrenia, could be all of the above.

I offered Miss Wormwood a full-day aide to keep Calvin on-task and developed a plan of daily interaction with Calvin's parents to make sure that they were aware of his homework (especially his major projects) and they would email back that he had accomplished them. (Contrary to a number of easily amused social pundits, I did not prescribe medication.) Once Calvin had a unified front to direct him towards positive educational outcomes, we'd have a chance to target his lack of pro-social interactions with peers and adults and his age-inappropriate comfort object.

If your argument is that we should find Calvin a school that focuses on his strengths instead of his deficits, then I can't help you. He's physically active, he has an amazing artistic intelligence, his vocabulary has occasional flashes of maturity, and his environmental morality is profound, but meh. Howard Gardner might disagree with me, but I propose that Calvin would be inattentive and impulsive even if you transferred him to Astronaut Dinosaur Elementary School.

[shishio45]

but I propose that Calvin would be inattentive and impulsive even if you transferred him to Astronaut Dinosaur Elementary School.

I understand that having a school designed for one child is a bit excessive. However I believe that Watterson was intending to say more about Calvin then just look at how funny he is. I believe that Watterson meant that Calvin is in a lot of ways the future of children. Hyper-active, over entitled,under-stimulated, and cynical at a young age over the entire education process, Calvin is frustrated and bored by societies view on education. Considerng the massive rise in ADHD and Asberger's diagonosis, as well the rise of internet and social networking challengeing the lecture/ discussion concept of learning, it makes me wonder if the modern education system is ready to handle the new children it must prepare for the future world.

[Tirian]

I won't disagree with your position on education, but Calvin is an ineffective case study to demonstrate it. He wasn't just frustrated and bored by school, he was frustrated and bored by every aspect of the world except for the ones that he created. He felt oppressed by his parents and his doctor and his babysitter and even the passage of the seasons in addition to his teacher. ADHD may be frequently misdiagnosed, but not this time.

I would also be careful about doing too much projection into Watterson's theme, as the man is notoriously apolitical. I'll grant you that he was showing that self-paced learning from the beauty and curiosities of the world around us is a critical aspect of life. But specific policies of education reform? ^{[citation needed]}

[freakish777]

his age-inappropriate comfort object.

Screw you too buddy!


There's nothing wrong with a 10 year old boy still playing with stuffed animals. EDIT FOR GREAT JUSTICE: According to Wikipedia, Calvin is a 6 year old!

[modularblues]

I see Calvin grow into a Banksy-type character, if his artistic impulses get properly channeled and he doesn't develop a taste for chaining his real name to fame/notoriety.