Two recent examples reminded me of a difficulty in assessing change: how much can we see in a short time period versus looking back and seeing significant change over time?

First, getting better at teaching. I have read books, heard talks, and participated in groups to help facilitate this. The emphasis is often on small and incremental change. This is all good but it can be hard to see change in action in a subsequent class session. It takes time to develop new skills and habits. Efforts to implement something may go well in one class and not another. Assessing the results requires additional work and reflection.

But, I can more easily see teaching change over the course of several years. I could have a better sense of how to approach a topic or what I need to emphasize to help students grasp a concept or have a better activity to apply the learning for the day. Pointing back to one particular moment when the pedagogy changed is hard but thinking about how I used to approach it years ago compared to now more easily reveals shifts.

Second, large scale social change. Years ago, I found the 2006 book Century of Difference by Fischer and Hout. Each chapter looks at a different part of American life and details the changes between 1900 and 2000. The differences are often startling, whether considering education or family life or urbanization. At the scale of a century, contrasts are clear.

However, evaluating change at a daily or weekly level is hard. How do we know if a new policy or event marks something noteworthy? The amount of information we have is tremendous and news and social media today can amplify their magnitude. In the moment, we can compare to the past. We ask others and experts. And it can still be difficult to know.

I am sure there are other examples where it can be hard to tell if much is changing. At other points it is clear. Something so shocking and noteworthy happens – thinking of 9/11, as one example – that it is known to everyone as significant. For now, we can continue to ask whether our current moment contains big changes or the continuation of existing patterns.