In England we are currently in the grip of a damaging hegemonic discourse in the field of education. Unquestionable goods include standards, aspiration, effectiveness, measurable performance and – the subject of this contribution- progress. We discuss how progress is currently understood and deployed within the educational landscape in England and draw connections between this and the framing of 'catch-up', of 'being left behind' and of 'lost learning' in the government's response to education and the pandemic. We then argue for other ways of understanding education and suggest that two key aspects of understanding education as non-linear and non-teleological are love for the world and hope-in-the-present.