Teacher influence on students runs deeper than most Australians realise, new research shows.
One in three say a teacher shaped their career path. Yet nearly a quarter feel that impact goes largely unacknowledged.
The findings by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), released ahead of World Teachers’ Day, reveal the breadth of teachers’ reach beyond the classroom. Forty per cent of Australians say a teacher changed how they felt about a subject. Nearly a third say a teacher made them fall in love with it entirely.
Half of Gen Z respondents (49%) say a teacher played a significant role in shaping their career. For Millennials, 48% count a teacher among the two biggest influences on the direction they took.
Confidence, not just curriculum
Perhaps the most telling finding concerns emotional impact. Forty-four per cent of Australians say the most meaningful thing a teacher did was build their sense of confidence. Not teach a subject, not prepare them for an exam — but make them feel capable.
Award-winning author Jaclyn Moriarty credits her teachers with turning a private passion into a professional possibility. Her latest novel is Time Travel for Beginners. Two English teachers — Mrs Watts and Mrs Mullally — read her stories aloud to the class and entered her into writing competitions. A school principal next door, Mrs Robinson, pushed her to pursue writing when she felt uncertain after Year 12.
“They made me believe I could truly become a writer,” Moriarty said. It is a testimony to something educators already know: the impact of a well-timed word can outlast years of formal instruction.
Why don’t teachers get the recognition they deserve?
Despite the depth of teacher influence on careers and confidence, the research points to a meaningful shortfall in acknowledgement. Eighty-seven per cent of Australians believe that teachers deserve more recognition than they receive, according to a 2025 AITSL study.
“Teachers can shape more than what we learn in schools and early childhood settings," said Tim Bullard, chief executive officer of AITSL. "They can spark an interest or give someone the encouragement to pursue a path they may not have otherwise considered.”
Forty-five per cent of Australians can still recall a specific lightbulb moment with a teacher. A conversation, a challenge, a piece of feedback that stayed with them long after the school bell rang.
What teacher influence looks like in practice
The data finds a real-world echo in Jade Bassett’s work. She is a science teacher and STEM leader at Rutherford Technology High School in New South Wales. Bassett won the Education Rising Star of the Year award at the 2026 Australian Education Awards for championing women in STEM. She points to one student as the clearest proof of what teacher influence can do.
“I’ve got a graduating student who is now pursuing aerospace engineering with NASA,” Bassett said. “Given that she had an attendance record below 20% and didn’t want to come to school — to see her now achieving that, just from being a part of the program and that giving her the opportunity to believe in herself, is every reason that I need to keep doing what I’m doing.”
It is precisely the kind of outcome the AITSL research describes — a moment of belief, extended by a teacher, that redirected a life. For school leaders, the question is an institutional one: what structures exist to ensure teachers know their impact is seen?
AITSL is marking World Teachers’ Day 2026 with a free Celebration Kit and a national media wall. Australians are invited to explore what Australia’s best schools for teachers are doing differently and to shine a light on the educators who shaped them.