Across classrooms, campuses, and learning environments of every kind, educators play a vital role in students' growth. Working directly with students every day, educators bring invaluable perspective to conversations about what’s working in education today—and what needs to evolve.
This March, educators from around the globe will share those perspectives at SXSW EDU 2026. In sessions rooted in real-world practice, they’ll spotlight emerging challenges, breakthrough ideas, and the future of teaching and learning.
Explore a selection of educator-led sessions at SXSW EDU 2026:
Keynote
Featured Sessions
- New Ground Rules: Shifts in U.S. International Education
- Strategy in the Times of Chaos: Imagining Futures of Education
Conversations
- Glowing Brains & Robosuits: Terminating the AI Cliché
- Higher Ed Needs Caring & Liberatory Leadership to Thrive
- Sanctuary Mindsets & Accompañamiento for Immigrant Students
Meet Ups
- Deeply Human in an AI World
- Let's Talk Teaching Abroad: Meet Up
- Tools Not Labels: Effective Accommodations for SPED
Mentor Sessions
- Sofia Malik
- Alex Flores
- Alyssa Strachan-Hamilton
- Anjuli Ahooja
- Chandler Miranda
- Domenico Vicinanza
- Heather Ashley Hayes
- Jennifer Gnau
- Karen Whitney LaVohn
- Kiara Downey
- Lexi Daly
- Lisa Donovan
- Marissa Guarriello
- Rebecca Engle
- Sarah Bond
- Sarah DiMaria
- Shelly Veron
- Tarah Tesmer
- Tessa Forshaw
- Toby Fischer
- Zeynep Özcan
Panels
- A Model for Culturally Responsive STEAM Ecosystems
- Addressing Climate Anxiety in Classrooms
- Advancing the Educational Attainment of Boys & Men
- AI & the Brain: As We Embrace AI, Let’s Not Forget Our Minds
- Building a New, Future-Proof University in 2026
- Connected Futures: Learning Across Boundaries
- Demanding Diversity When Diversity Is “Illegal”
- Dynamic Future of Marketing Education
- Experiencing Learning: Hedging Against AI Disruption
- Failing Forward: Moving from Tools to Transformation with AI
- From IEP to Independence: VR Tools for Neurodiverse Students
- Future-Proof Learners Now for the World of Tomorrow
- Game On: Reimagining Career Exploration Through Play
- Joy & Justice: Reframing Advocacy for Immigrant Education
- Pre-K Pioneers: Fresh Models for Early Learning
- Pride + Resilience: LGBTQ+ Young People in Online Spaces
- Reframing Dyslexia as a Hyper-Ability
- The Disengaged Teen Goes to College
- Unapologetically Insisting on Success
- Unpaid, Unused, & Unhinged: Reimagine Campus-Community Collabs
- Vouchers & the Future of Texas Public Education
- We Can Teach Hard Things: Being a Civics Teacher in America
Performances
- In the Muddle: A Live Look at Learning Thru Mistake-Making
- Schooled: The Musical
- This Is a Magic Show (About The Power of Curiosity)
Podcasts
- Chalk & Gavel: Navigating the Tides of an Education Law Sea Change
- Coffee with a Little Bit of Cream: Bringing Students Back from the Brink
- Plot Twist: Power, Protest, & Politics in Young World
- The Learning Geeks: How to Think When Machines Think Faster
Roundtable Discussions
- Building Sustainable District & Community Collaborations
- Designing Language Curricula That Work
- Education Advocacy in a Shifting Political Landscape
- Emphasizing Student Voice in Curriculum
- Igniting Next-Gen Voices: Tools for Advocacy & Social Change
- Rebuilding Media Literacy: From Books to Tech
- Rethinking Schools as Public Health & Mental Wellbeing Hubs
Solos
- AI with Aloha: Stories from Hawai‘i’s Classrooms
- Teaching the Stressed Brain: How to Improve Academic Success
- The Art Gallery is the New Gym: Get Creative, Get Smarter
- What Does it Mean to be Literate in the Age of AI?
Workshops
- Actions to Outcomes: A Smarter Path to Better Decisions
- Beyond Copy-Paste: Designing AI-Resilient Assignments
- Building Trust in Schools: Promising Partnership Practices
- Classical Music is Not European: Rethinking How We Teach
- Design Thinking with AI: Empowering People & Connection
- Division Defiance: Building Cross-Racial Solidarity
- Empowering Society: Rethinking Who Designs AI
- Finding Wonder in the Weird: Tapping into Student Creativity
- Go Sideways! How Collaborative Mentoring Rebuilds PD
- In Search of Hope: Teaching Climate Emotions Through Story
- Leadership in the Red Zone: Chaos, Change, & Courage
- Power to the Classroom: Design the Data Ed You Need
- Refusing Student Erasure: Educators vs. Anti-Trans Policies
- Reimagining School Wellness Through Arts & SEL
- Seeing Differently: Learning Through Non-Visual Senses
- Steal C-Suite Tools to Reset Schools, Like a Boss
- Teaching Ideas with Visual Thinking
- The Light, the Child, & the Pinecone
- Transforming Education Through Hip Hop Pedagogy
