2026 Pedagogical Resolutions

For this last blog post of 2025 I wanted to reflect on some pedagogical resolutions that would be important for 2026, even though I am not really a resolutions kind of human. I usually pick a word instead and that word becomes a focus in the work that I do in pedagogical space, in accessibility space, and in life outside of work space. But resolutions and lists are things that folk tend to enjoy and it is something I have done both in the blog on my podcast for many years. I also acknowledge that this semester is one where so many have chosen to log off of all social spaces much earlier than they have in years past, and so many of you will only read this in the new year and I will just reshare in January as well. This logging off early should tell us something about the state of education at the moment, the burn-out, but also the privilege to avoid engaging in topics that impact many.

And to be honest it was hard to come up with areas of focus for 2026 because everything seems to be on fire in HigherEd and so it would be difficult to settle on just a few. I wrote some notes to myself and I also went over my older blog posts and podcasts to see what felt like it was of importance in years previous. For example, way back in 2012 one of the things I focused on was how important it was for learning to be applicable and to get away from memorizing for the sake of memorizing, which is still a very big discussion in relation to assessments and testing in GenerativeAI times. In 2014, I provided a list of 6 things to consider, such as the importance of being present, of collaborating in different ways, of innovating in our pedagogies, and of supporting different literacies in the work that we do; again all things that are relevant a decade later.

The last few years I have created accessible pedagogy resolutions on my podcast Accessagogy. In 2024 the accessible pedagogy resolutions were avoiding tech bans (heavy sigh; still so very present in discussions today), being more inclusive in our event planning and organizing (more heavy sighs), the need for community, and the need for reflection especially around how words have meaning. The accessible pedagogy resolutions for 2025 included again an appeal for reflection, an ask for folk to check-in more, a need for more humanity in our work and spaces, and again the need to build meaningful communities. 

So of course it is no surprise that for 2026 some of these same themes are coming up mainly because we are still grappling with such a lack of inclusion in our policies, procedures, and pedagogical design. So here are 8, yes 8, things that you may want to consider in your pedagogical design and the ways you navigate eduspace.

1. Identify the common excuses for why inclusion doesn't happen and call them out as exactly that, excuses. Fight and advocate for inclusion in the spaces that you are in, in whatever ways that looks like for you. Maybe it is saying a thing at a meeting. Maybe it is researching and writing an article. Maybe it is blogging or writing a post on barriers you encounter. All of this is needed more than ever, and all of this is so so valuable.

2. Words have meaning, and be clear with what you mean when you use a word. Can 2026 be the year where people realize that accessible means something different in disability space than it does in open educational resource space or student recruitment space? Let's be clear about what we mean by accessible.

3. Read more, or at least engage more with what is going on around you. Being camels with heads in sand about the realities that education at all levels is going through does not support educational movement, in fact it pretty much insures that education will continue to be devalued and defunded.

4. Curate the learning and knowledge you deserve. Similar to the read more resolution above, seek out the learning spaces and knowledge spaces that are meaningful to you. You deserve to be surrounded or in touch with ideas and concepts that make you smile and make your own thoughts spark. 

5. Share what you have found in your curation. Others would love to know about the book you read, or the talk you went to, or the webinar you attended. Share these resources and ideas in different ways. And remember when you are sharing knowledges found in different places make sure you have permission to share those knowledges and make sure that the sharing is done using the originator's voice. Do not commit more colonial theft by appropriating things; citational justice is deeply foundational. 

6. Be aware of nature and spend time acknowledging it in ways that are meaningful to you. I know some people like to go for hikes, I know for some people hikes are absolutely not possible. Maybe nature awareness is looking at trees out your window, or getting a plant that no one in your space (including your cats) are allergic to. Nature is so important, let's recognize nature.

7. Let yourself rest in what ever ways rest is rest for you. I have a lot of friends and also administrators who tell me I need to get better at taking my holiday days. And what they all fail to consider is that holidays where you are just at home doing nothing because you have nothing planned and no one to do things with is not a holiday and is not rest for some people, it is actually more stressful. Rest is incredibly different to many people. Rest for me is reading a ton of books. For others that may sound like a cognitive nightmare. So when people say rest, remember that rest is personal and contextual and try to find opportunities for whatever rest means to you. Maybe rest is taking your kids to the playground, maybe that sounds like the opposite of rest for someone with children. That is okay, we are not The Borg, rest can mean different things for each person, the important thing is that you define rest in the way that resonates with you.

8. Write or create things. Some people like to write. Some people like to draw or paint or craft. Do more of that in whatever ways that is meaningful or possible for you. Make up random songs as you do your chores in the house. Name your neighbourhood squirrel and give them a backstory. It is through different types of creation that holistically inclusive educational spaces become possible. Connected to this is maybe get yourself a little notebook, or make yourself a little notebook, to carry with you to write down or draw all the golden creative nuggets that come to mind.

Of course feel free to take what is most meaningful to your context and to leave what doesn't resonate. I hope your 2026 brings the kind of foundational inclusive change you need in your spaces. I hope you get a bit of a break in the next little while and that this break manifests in a meaningful way for you. Here's to a 2026 where folk do not feel so incredibly alone and unsupported in their advocacy for inclusion.