26 EduSpeak Sayings You’ll Hear in 2026 and Wish You Hadn't
A lightly savage tour through the AI-inflected jargon of modern education, where everyone speaks fluently, no one asks for definitions, and we all nod along as if this is definitely the future.
“We’re reimagining learning in the age of AI.”
No one agrees on what learning is, but the budget now includes software licenses.“The teacher’s role is evolving.”
Mostly into troubleshooting, supervision, and quiet existential reflection.“We’re moving beyond content toward competencies.”
Students still can’t name the content, but they feel very competent about it.“AI is a thought partner.”
An unpaid teaching assistant with no classroom management skills.“We’re aligning instruction with future-ready skills.”
For futures we refuse to describe in concrete terms.“This empowers student agency.”
The student chose not to do the assignment.“Assessment needs to be more authentic.”
Grading became uncomfortable.“We’re shifting from knowledge transmission to knowledge construction.”
Students will build what teachers used to explain.“AI literacy is now foundational.”
Like reading, writing, and knowing when not to trust a chatbot.“The curriculum must be adaptive.”
Preferably minute-by-minute.“We’re personalizing learning at scale.”
Every student will receive the same customized experience.“Teachers shouldn’t be content experts anymore.”
Expertise makes students anxious.“This is about teaching students how to think, not what to think.”
Content will be addressed if there’s time.“We’re using AI to reduce teacher workload.”
By adding three new platforms and weekly training sessions.“Grades don’t reflect true learning.”
Especially when the grades are low.“We need to meet students where they are.”
Permanently.“The classroom is now a learning ecosystem.”
No one is quite sure who the apex predator is.“AI allows us to differentiate effortlessly.”
Effort is still required, just redistributed.
“This prepares students for jobs that don’t exist yet.”
Which conveniently means we can’t check our work.“We’re piloting this with fidelity.”
Translation unclear; confidence high.“Cheating is an outdated concept.”
Integrity has been rebranded as a conversation.“The role of memorization is changing.”
Memory is optional; retrieval is outsourced.“Teachers must become learning facilitators.”
Please stop lecturing and start circulating.“AI frees us to focus on higher-order thinking.”
Once students can read the prompt.“We’re data-informed, not data-driven.”
Until the spreadsheet says otherwise.“This is the future of education.”
Again. For the third time this decade.
Michael S. Rose, a leader in the classical education movement, is author of The Subversive Art of a Classical Education. It is now available on Amazon.
As a student at a community college I can attest to every single point here. Fellow students were shocked when they discovered I didn’t use AI. They use it constantly. Incredibly depressing to read this but it is absolutely astute and brilliantly formatted. Maybe the despair will become desperation, and we can collectively redirect the education system.
Wow. Read this to my homeschool graduate. Had a good laugh then we both wanted to cry. 😪