Skillshare Help Center

Teacher Programs

To celebrate and support our most engaging and highest quality teachers throughout their teaching journey, Skillshare offers teacher programs that provide benefits and resources designed to amplify teachers’ success on Skillshare.

In this article:

Programs for New Skillshare Teachers

Teach Challenge is a multi-week program for first-time teachers that happens four times a year. Participants are encouraged to complete specific milestones designed to encourage high-quality class production, with the goal of completing a published class in about 6 weeks. In addition to receiving assistance from our Skillshare team, participants also join a community of other new teachers who provide feedback and encouragement along the way.

Teach Lab is a 3-month long residency program that empowers distinctive creatives to become better teachers while building their community. With 1-on-1 coaching, production guidance, workshops, and video editing support, Teach Lab helps creatives level up to launch a high-quality Skillshare class. Teach Lab invites a small group of participants to join this tight-knit residency program every month.

First-time teachers are required to complete an application to teach on Skillshare. Once you’ve been approved, you will be invited into one of our programs for first-time teachers to support you through the process of creating your first class. Our team carefully reviews submitted applications, and we’ll aim to get back to you over email within two weeks to let you know whether you have been approved.

Programs for Rising and Established Skillshare Teachers

The Rising Teacher program is an invite-only community designed to support teacher talent who have one or more classes on Skillshare. The program’s goal is to nurture individual teachers towards consistent, high-quality publishing and growing their audience. The Rising Teacher program also helps cultivate the next generation of Top Teachers. To support the goals of the program and their success on Skillshare, Rising Teachers receive:

  • Access to exclusive webinars and contests.
  • A private community to foster peer-to-peer learning and feedback.
  • Eligibility for additional engagement rewards in our community.
  • A dedicated point-of-contact at Skillshare.

The Top Teacher program supports our most active, engaged, and high-quality teachers on Skillshare. They receive the same support and perks offered in the Rising Teacher program, plus:

  • A Top Teacher badge on their profile.
  • Special marketing features and promotions.
  • Access to new beta features.
  • A free Skillshare membership.

There is no formal application process for either of these programs. Rather, we regularly review new classes throughout the year from teachers who already published their first class. We use the following criteria to evaluate a teacher’s readiness for either program:

  • High-Quality and In-Demand Content: These teachers consistently create exemplary content for students that aligns with all quality, class, and community guidelines, as well as Skillshare’s content strategy.
  • Performance: Their classes rank highly in minutes watched, positive student reviews, and number of students.
  • Engagement With Students: These teachers go above and beyond to connect with students by answering questions, sharing resources, and providing thoughtful feedback on projects.
  • Teacher Brand and Profile: Their profile is a cohesive and consistent representation of their individual and personal brand.

To maintain access to Rising Teacher or Top Teacher program perks, we ask that teachers in these programs:

  • Work with us to level up their teaching, and
  • Publish at least one new class every three to six months.

Keep in mind that, at this time, Rising Teacher and Top Teacher programming opportunities, such as our Slack communities, webinars and events, are offered in English only, though teachers do not need to be fluent in English to participate.

Resources