Becoming an educator on Outschool

Teaching requirements and how to apply

Updated over a week ago

We are excited to welcome passionate, qualified individuals to Outschool’s community of educators!

Requirements

Outschool does not require formal teaching credentials. We believe that many adults can offer quality learning experiences based on their expertise and interests. We do, however, have several requirements, detailed below. Educators need to fulfill these requirements to become and to remain a teacher on Outschool:

  • You must be at least 18 years old.

  • You must reside full-time in any of the 50 United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, England, or Wales (note that other UK regions and U.S. territories do not apply at this time).

  • You must have the ability to receive PayPal payments.

  • You must have one or more expertise or passion that you will base your classes around.

  • You must meet our community standards, including prompt, professional communication with families and the Outschool team.

  • You must observe our class content policy, including the policy that Outschool classes are secular and objective.

  • You must have a reliable and fast Internet connection (over 3Mbps upload and download).

  • You must have the technical know-how to effectively run online classes.

  • You must have a good command of written and spoken English.

  • You must verify your identity and pass a criminal background check

Steps to Apply

To apply to become an approved educator on Outschool, you'll need to follow these steps!

1. Familiarize yourself with Outschool basics

Check out these Getting Started tips in our Educator Library, join an Outschool community group to connect with other new and prospective educators on Outschool, and explore our collection of Information for Prospective Educators.

2. Apply to teach

Fill out your application and follow the steps to submit it. You will share specifics about your expertise, class topics you’re passionate about, and a writing and video sample. These materials will only be used for the purpose of this application.

Once submitted, you’ll hear back from our team within three business days. Learn more about Creating a Great Teacher Application and check out our sample applications for potential teachers.

3. Verify your Identity

Once your application has been approved, you will need to verify your identity. This is a free, secure, and quick process through a company called Persona which specializes in identity verification. Learn more about identity verification at Outschool.

4. Complete your Background Check

Next, you will need to begin your background check. These are performed by a company called Checkr which specializes in background checks, and they’re free, secure, and private. Once your background check clears, you can officially join our community of educators! Learn more about background checks at Outschool.

5. Complete Required Professional Learning

Once your background check clears, you will need to view the two policy videos linked on your dashboard. These go over important privacy and content policies that will help make your transition to teaching on Outschool a bit easier.

These videos cover our Class Content Policies and Safety and Privacy, which will prepare you to teach your first Outschool class.

6. Complete your public teacher profile

You’ll be prompted next to complete your public teacher profile, which families can view on our site to learn more about you. Learn more about creating your teacher profile. Here’s an example of a complete teacher profile for reference.

7. List your first class!

Hooray! You can now create your first class and request a listing on Outschool. You can create a great first class by checking out our Standards for class listings and Sample class listings for new teachers.

Note our team reviews all class listings, even for established teachers, before they are published on the site.

We recommend listing a One-time class to start. Once you’ve requested your class listing, it can take up to 3 days for our team to approve or provide feedback on your listing. You need to have one class published before submitting additional classes for review.

8. Additional resources

On the right side of your dashboard, you’ll see additional ways to learn more and gain support as a new Outschool educator. The Educator Library offers tools and tips for online teaching as well as access to our live events and classes.

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