News of the day reveals vivid accounts in the educational community of public vs. private interests, technology based, market driven solutions, sage wisdom that fights for position to remain relevant, and fierce debates over the metrics of measurement—all in the name of resolving the ills of society.  We strive to get our collective democracy to move forward with our ability to compete in a race whose destination may be without end, against rivals—both named and unnamed—such that we may leverage any advantage over others to secure a better future for our children and grandchildren.

The almost toxic gyrations of the day’s events (or more precisely the events of the minute) broadcast in the media reflect the transformative changes taking place throughout contemporary society.  We bear witness to revolutions in distant lands, pressure to perform at a tender age that hitherto was a time for play and imagination, and economic turmoil impacting workers of virtually every stripe and at every age category through increases in productivity and stiff competition from all parts of the world.   Our desire to race even faster to secure news, information, products and services in a wide range of sectors throughout our global village seems insatiable.  Are we, however, making progress in the race, or are we falling further to the bottom?

Many will say that we must advance in designing new and improved models for the delivery of educational systems so we may we fuel our chances of beating the competition.  Do we in fact fuel those chances with more—more testing, more mistrust, and more things to consider?  The systemic, broad-spectrum shift in how some view teaching and learning that often borrows anecdotally from the latest blog post, sales pitch, or even with claims of being research based is promulgated, and thrust into the public discourse, at an alarming rate.  Deciphering where to move, in response to which data point, and with what tool, can at the very least distort the debate, and at worst create conditions that are antithetical to what children need to grow into thoughtful, caring, and deliberate citizens in our democracy.

We travel faster in tweeting messages but slower in thoughtful repose, incapable of fully digesting ideas given the convergence of tasks that appear, or the multiplicity of options to consider at any given moment.  It would seem contradictory to the pace of the challenges that we confront to settle in on the essence of a problem, to seek to limit distractions, to consider the value of low-tech variables such as building trust in the quiet of an honest, civil dialogue.  Citius, Altius, Fortius, or faster, higher, stronger may be the motto for the modern day Olympics, but it does not reflect the best way for our citizenry to advance our cause to create healthy communities of learning.