‘Teaching is filled with social and emotional interactions. Supporting teachers to feel more confident in managing these situations appears to be vital for their wellbeing.’ In today’s article Rebecca J. Collie shares her new research that examines teachers’ social-emotional confidence, the role of school leader support in fostering it, and how this confidence is associated with wellbeing later on in the school term.

Welcome to the 2026 school year and fresh content from Teacher. As is tradition, we’re kicking off our 2026 content with an article to help you with your lesson planning. Read more to get across key events for the year to inspire some of your curriculum planning. 

Crayola is celebrating the fifth anniversary of Crayola Creativity Week – a global celebration that invites millions of children to explore how creativity fuels learning. Teachers can sign up for free access to a dedicated Teacher Guide, daily educational activity videos, downloadable Thinking Sheets and creative challenges.

‘Comedy scriptwriting doesn’t just teach literacy, it gives young people the confidence and creativity to see themselves as writers, performers and storytellers.’ Bridget Hanna – Education Manager at the Australian Children’s Television Foundation – shares how comedy scriptwriting brings energy, laughter and collaboration into the classroom and helps develop literacy and language skills.

Do your students count on their fingers for mathematics tasks? Do you encourage them to count on their fingers, or do you focus on supporting them to make calculations mentally? New research from Switzerland suggests finger counting has a positive impact on student outcomes, but only when it’s used at a specific age. 

Age restrictions preventing under-16s in Australia from creating or keeping accounts on major social media platforms come into force today. The responsibility rests with platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to take ‘reasonable steps’ to comply. We look at how teachers can help students and families navigate the change, what the legislation means for schools, and resources out there to support educators.

In a Teacher exclusive, Minister of Education and Research for Estonia Dr Kristina Kallas joins editor Jo Earp for this special podcast to talk about setting teachers and students up for success, the early years foundations for Estonia's impressive PISA performance, and the next big challenge – AI in education.

We’ve called on 2 of our expert colleagues here at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) – Dr Tim Friedman and Bethany Davies – to look at what the latest Australian research says about teaching and learning with artificial intelligence, and what you can do in the classroom to address some of the challenges.

In this expert Q&A Amy Ayres – President of the Science Teachers’ Association of New South Wales – discusses integrating technology into science instruction and improving students’ critical thinking or inquiry skills. These were 2 areas of future PD need highlighted in the latest Australian TIMSS teacher questionnaire findings.

As the implementation of social media legislation for under-16s draws closer, many young people are feeling confused, anxious and unsettled. Here, Danni Rowlands from the Butterfly Foundation discusses what to expect from the incoming changes, the concerns already voiced by young people, how it all connects to body image, and why educators are uniquely positioned to support students through the changes.