The 2026 recipient of the Global Teacher Prize has been announced – Rouble Nagi from India took out the top prize. One Australian teacher was a top 10 finalist this year – Colleen O’Rourke from the Hills Cristian Community School in Adelaide, South Australia. Teacher caught up with her shortly after she was named a finalist to find out about the work she’s been recognised for. 

A pioneering educator and acclaimed artist from India who has transformed neglected walls into hundreds of vibrant, open-air learning centres has won the $1 million 2026 Global Teacher Prize. Rouble Nagi creates large-scale, interactive educational murals teaching literacy, numeracy, science, hygiene, history, environmental awareness, and social responsibility.

In today’s episode Dominique Russell speaks with the 2 recipients of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Excellence in Science Teaching – Paula Taylor from the ACT and Matt Dodds from NSW. They share the lesson activities that are a hit in their science classrooms, the teachers that had an impact on them, and how they’re sharing their knowledge with other educators. 

The Zayed Sustainability Prize is a global award that recognises organisations and high schools that are delivering practical, scalable solutions to some of the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. Last week, the Prize announced the cohort of 2026 winners in a ceremony held during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. In today’s article, we learn more about the 6 winning high schools from 6 world regions.

The top 50 finalists for the US$1 million Global Teacher Prize have just been announced, bringing together nominees from 38 countries. They include 2 teachers from Australia – Colleen O'Rourke and Jade Bassett. Find out more in today’s article.

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.

Teacher editor Jo Earp sits down with Mali Jorm, Madison Dearnaley and Tracy Kelly to talk about managing school library and reading spaces, including building a student-driven collection, creating fresh and welcoming spaces, and strategies to encourage reading for pleasure. They also share their personal and student book recommendations. 

‘I wanted to make a meaningful change in how our kids see themselves as mathematicians.’ Mathematics teacher Holly Wedd has been making a significant difference to the way students at her school succeed in maths by boosting their confidence and reducing mathematics anxiety. 

The Australian Council for Educational Research’s (ACER’s) Pru Mitchell was named winner of the inaugural Victorian Library and Information Award (VLIA). Teacher editor Jo Earp sat down with her to talk about teaching and teacher librarianship, sharing knowledge and expertise, and the role of AI, technology and digital literacy in the classroom.

In a 3-part series for Teacher, the leadership team at Warriapendi Primary School in Perth are sharing how they have built staff instructional capacity to improve student outcomes in literacy. In this second article, they discuss what they’ve implemented so far to support instructional capacity, and how they keep momentum.