@Jeremy Yeah, the opening quote was subtly referenced throughout, though I must admit I was too slow to benefit from the full impact of it. I think the primary thrust was to warn us away from just doing things without proper forethought and motivation.

Re. opportunity vs. obligation, I can’t point to anything precisely, though I’ve read a number of writers and bloggers and left-leaning scholars speak about society’s obligation to educate and socialize youth, and that’s what I was getting at. It’s not a new concept. Off the top of my head I was thinking of an article that argues teaching intellectual subjects as well as moral subjects, a passage in Christiansen’s book “Disrupting Class”, and the now infamous long, video post by Stephen Downes against home-schooling, and, really, against parental control over their children’s education (I think the phrase he used was “parents do not own their children”). Again, I can’t point to any specific posts off the top of my head, but I would expect the antithesis of that position might be found on Matthew K. Tabor’s blog.

A few notes: 1. I like that opening quote, but I don’t see it reflected much in your notes. Were there occasions where someone opened up for the wrong reasons? I blogged about that almost 3 years ago: http://brownelearning.org/blog/?p=41 .

Also, do you have any more resources on the opportunity vs. obligation distinction? I’m familiar with the rights vs. entitlements discussion (the right to marry doesn’t entitle me to a wife), but that’s not the same as what you wrote.