Wednesday evenings in my household tend to be a bit of a battlefield. It’s mid-week; the end of a long work and school day and, as per usual, we have all forgotten that Thursday is ‘show-and-tell’ for the six-year old member of the house.
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A series of negotiations ensue with a variety of stuffed animals and strange shaped crafts offered up for possible consideration. The teacher in me is adamant that show-and-tell needs to be more educational and something beyond the forgotten Pokemon fished out of the bottom of the stuffed toy basket.
Two weeks ago, the last suggestion was a photo of an Armoured Bush Cricket or Koringkriek, sent by grandparents who live in Zimbabwe. The teacher in me was delighted. Until said six-year-old asked my husband and I for facts for the show-and-tell.
Enter ChatGPT.
Set up by my husband specifically for our six-year-old (appropriate guardrails in place and voice prompted to be six-year-old friendly), our child sat for the best part of 30 minutes having a back and forth conversation about this gogga. Show-and-tell sorted, Wednesday night saved and parent’s mid-week sanity intact – this brief moment in my household reaffirmed what I think we are going to be seeing more of in education in 2026.
Active engagement in learning
“The science and practice of good learning is called engagement… and it’s one of the best kept-secrets in education.” (The Disengaged Teen by Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop)
In our quest to find all the facts about the Koringkriek for show-and-tell, what struck me is just how engaged my child was when she was given agency and the content met her where she was at in terms of her cognitive development. This active engagement meant that she retained the information and was able to confidently present it to her class.
I believe that engagement will be one of the defining academic trends of 2026, as schools increasingly recognise that meaningful learning hinges not just on content delivery but on active participation, emotional connection, and learner agency.
With AI-driven personalisation, interactive platforms, and competency-based models, the emphasis is shifting from measuring attendance to measuring engagement. Schools are realising that when learners feel seen, heard, and challenged at the right level, their motivation, resilience, and academic outcomes soar.
In 2026, the schools that prioritise engagement – through dynamic curriculum design, supportive learning communities, and data-informed responsiveness – will set the benchmark for improved education outcomes.
Making our young people “good at learning”
Something that sits heavily on my mind as an educator and parent is how we equip our young people for a world that we cannot even begin to imagine. The rate of change in the world is unlike anything we have ever experienced and our young people need to be equipped to navigate it. Which is why this opinion from Rose Luckin, a British professor and AI expert (as cited in The Disengaged Teen), gives me hope:
Make them ‘good at learning’. The only thing that can insulate them from rapid change and give them confidence to move forward is the ability to adapt and learn.
It’s the most valuable skill we can help our young people develop. It’s not mastery of any single subject, but the ability to learn and relearn continuously.
The pace of technological, social, and environmental shifts means today’s knowledge can become tomorrow’s outdated insight, leaving those who rely solely on static expertise dangerously unprepared.
What endures is the mindset: curiosity, adaptability, critical thinking, and the confidence to navigate ambiguity. Empowering young people with strong learning skills is something I believe that we need to see more of in 2026.
AI in the room
It’s basically impossible to write anything about education trends without considering and including the impact AI is having, and will continue to have, on education.
AI will continue to be one of the most influential education trends of 2026, but its impact will hinge on how we use it. The goal cannot be to adopt AI for the sake of seeming innovative; rather, schools must leverage it to meaningfully improve academic outcomes and strengthen teaching.
In addition, when we consider the use of AI in our schools, we must ensure that we are meeting our learners where they are at and providing appropriate guardrails for the implementation of AI in our curriculum design and teaching.
However, when used with intention, AI can free educators from administrative burdens, provide real-time insights into learner progress, and personalise learning in ways that were previously impossible – allowing teachers to focus on high-value human work: targeted intervention, deep instructional design and quality assurance to ensure exceptional teaching and learning.
The schools that will truly lead in 2026 are those that treat AI not as a novelty, but as a powerful tool in service of better academic outcomes.
Ultimately, 2026 promises to be a dynamic year for those leading innovation in education.
New learnings and challenges are inevitable, but if we remain unwavering in our commitment to placing learners at the centre of every decision, we can be confident that 2026 will be a successful year – one that moves education forward in meaningful ways.
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