It’s not breaking news that I believe there should be a University course entitled “Calvin & Hobbes for Future Teachers”, and that it should be required for all future teachers of all levels and disciplines.
So, I was intrigued when I recently encountered an old article about the Calvin & Hobbes strip and its creator Bill Watterson.  Part of the article contained some interesting commentaries from Watterson about the strip’s various characters.  In mentioning Calvin’s teacher-and-frequent-nemesis, Miss Wormwood, he makes the following comment:

“I think she seriously believes in the value of education, so needless to say, she’s an unhappy person.”

Did that remark stop you in your tracks as quickly as it did for me?  Especially with the ‘needless to say’ phase thrown in for good measure?  Surely Watterson is not trying to suggest that education is of no value?!
Somehow, I don’t think so, but the remark seems a little puzzling and therefore thought-provoking.  So – no surprise – I’ve been thinking about this.  I’ve developed some tentative early thoughts or conjectures.  We’ll likely never know his exact thinking.
These are my own early musings.  I’d be interested in hearing any readers’ thoughts, as well.  Perhaps I’m over-thinking this?

1. It seems clear that Watterson is referring to education in the narrowest sense; that is, the kind we get in schools. The parts of our educations that are supplied by parents, religion, society, and life itself doesn’t seem to be in the picture here. Perhaps that’s obvious, but perhaps it’s worth mentioning?  After all, Mark Twain apparently said he never let his schooling interfere with his education.
2. Maybe Watterson’s remark isn’t so terribly surprising after all. Indeed, it almost seems like the kind of irreverent-but-humorous remark his own Calvin might make to Hobbes. And I think one of the strengths of Watterson’s comic strip, as it relates to education, is that the very nature and humor of Calvin’s often-irreverent remarks tend to supply a valuable perspective on some of the pitfalls and foibles of our classrooms and our education system in a non-threatening manner.  Seeing something from another perspective – especially with humor – often forces an awareness we might otherwise not have noticed.
3. All that said, I really don’t think I believe that Watterson is saying education is of no value. Indeed, I think there’s a chance he might be hinting at exactly the opposite, intentionally or otherwise. Miss Wormwood, like almost any current teacher, has essentially chosen a no-win profession.  The goal – providing our students the best possible education – is so easy to agree upon, especially if you’re painting in broad strokes. And yet the execution of that goal is so immensely complex and difficult to achieve at a variety of levels.  Miss Wormwood’s dealings with the likes of Calvin in one small classroom are just the narrowest possible manifestations of the myriad of hurdles that teachers, administrators, and school boards must face daily!  And none of those issues yield to easy, synergistic solutions.  Solutions in one area often create new problems in another.

Educators choose this profession, and most of them love it, with all the challenges.  So perhaps ‘unhappy’ is rarely the right word for any educator, including Miss Wormwood.  But I could sure understand how they could, and can, be often frustrated.  And yet, the joyful daily successes they achieve in the face of these frustrations is probably good evidence of how valuable their profession is.