About teaching in my free time
All you need to know about Discover Summer Academy
Disclaimer: This post shares my teaching experience at Discover Summer Academy, a summer program where talented tutors help curious high school students explore their passions. If you're thinking about teaching and making a difference - applications for Summer 2025 tutors close on December 15th, 2024.
What if I want to join Discover, but not as a tutor? → Application for organizers
Want to teach? → Appplication for tutors
Just want to learn more? → Discover web
Intro
Last Summer I spent ten days teaching at Discover Summer Academy. And it was one of the most rewarding and unique experiences I've had in my life.
Discover is a Summer academy for high school students in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (plus some international sessions). But it's not your typical summer camp – it's a place where curious teenagers come to explore everything from neuroscience to politics, from AI to photography.
Why is Discover so special?
Three reasons I totally love teaching at Discover:
1. The community is incredible
The friendships you make while teaching, organizing activities for students (and sometimes solving unexpected situations) really hit differently. The people who go to Discover have a diversity of backgrounds, but they are all curious about new things and very active in their free time.
The Discover community is alive year-round, not just for the Summer academy. We organize a lot of events, meetups, board games, sports events, and parties during the whole year.
2. You get an “excuse” to make time for your passion
My day job isn't in abstract Math, which I studied and love. Discover gives me a perfect excuse to dive deep into mathematical concepts and share them with others who are genuinely curious. It motivates me to further educate myself in Math, for which I would otherwise struggle to find time in my adult life.
3. You can shape someone's path
Students are often deciding what to study and do with their lives. You can become part of that journey, and share your unfiltered experience with studying and working at a particular field. I still got messages even months or a year later from students telling me how the math course changed their perspective (hopefully for the better! :)).
What teaching at Discover actually looks like
Here's the straightforward truth about being a tutor at Discover: You'll teach a 90-minute class each morning about a topic you're passionate about. Could be your profession, your side project, or even your hobby.
The format is surprisingly flexible. While you'll prepare course materials beforehand (with help from experienced guides), the goal isn't to cram information into students' heads. Instead, you're showing them what it's like to deeply engage with a subject. My favorite moments often happen when students start asking questions I hadn't even considered.
What makes Discover unique is that you can join many more activities than just teaching your course. As a tutor, you'll also:
Run optional workshops in the afternoons
Have amazing discussions during meals (where students often ask their best questions)
Potentially become a "prefect" for a small group of students, attending leisure activities and competitive games with them.
Be a support and a friend for the students throughout the days.
All you need to know
Answering the ten most common questions of my friends.
1. How do I decide what to teach?
You should teach a course on something you have expertise or experience with. Could be your profession, something you studied at university, your side project, or even your hobby. The key is enthusiasm – these students can tell when you genuinely love what you're teaching.
Some friends were teaching courses on Salsa or Yoga. Each “session” of Discover aims to have a diversity of courses such that each student can choose what they like the most.
This is an example of how the courses in one session might look like:
2. What if I am not confident enough to teach, but still want to join Discover?
You can still join the Summer academy as an organizer. Organizers don’t run their own lectures, but they take care of everything going smoothly, preparing the program, logistics, and operations of everything.
What if I want to join Discover, but not as a tutor? → Application for organizers
However, you don’t have to be worried. The key is your enthusiasm about the topic. Students often say that they appreciate that Discover tutors are genuinely interested in what they teach, they offer a unique perspective, plus they are not afraid to admit if they don’t know the answer to something. It’s alright not knowing 100% of the information. Discover values are about the love for exploring and learning new things.
3. What are the requirements for teaching?
To teach at Discover, you need to be at least 22 or have completed 3 years of university. You don't need to be a professional teacher. You just need to be passionate about your field and willing to learn how to share that passion effectively.
The courses have six lectures, 90 minutes each. As far as I know, there are no strict requirements, but you will be recommended good teaching practices, plus tips and tricks for making the lectures engaging.
4. Can I get feedback on my course before I go teach?
Discover community works well in this. Before I first went to teach Math, I had a call with one of the previous Math/Physics tutors. He gave me tons of recommendations and shared common mistakes to avoid. I also had the opportunity to ask any questions and send my course outline and content to more experienced tutors to get feedback. There is always a lot of support.
5. What are the students I would be teaching like?
The students come from a variety of backgrounds, types of schools, and regions, and they have different interests. You typically teach a sub-group of students who are already interested in your course. That’s because each student chooses only two courses that they will attend during the Summer academy. That meant for example that at my Math course, I had students incredibly excited about Math, but also a girl who chose that course because she hated Math and took Discover as a challenge to change that.
The students’ age is usually 16 - 19. I would say in general they are active, very nice, and surprisingly smart (from what I remember, I wasn’t feeling that smart at high school at all).
6. What if I have more different topics I want to teach, but not one common theme?
The courses should have a connecting theme, e.g., “Debate”, “Behavioral Economics” or “History of global conflicts”. However, if you have more smaller things to teach, you can apply as an organizer. Organizers still can have multiple workshops - shorter interactive “lectures” on various topics that are not continuous, but one-time.
What if I want to join Discover, but not as a tutor? → Application for organizers
7. Is it difficult to get accepted as a tutor?
Yes, Discover is selective, and not everyone is accepted. I was accepted two times and rejected one time, even though I applied with the completely same course.
8. How long does the Summer academy take?
Discover has multiple sessions during Summer, typically around five. Each session is 9 days long, including two weekends and five weekdays. If you are worried about spending too many vacation days, remember that some countries give you a few days of paid time off for volunteering activities.
9. Is it paid?
Teaching at Discover is a volunteer position. As a tutor, you'll receive free accommodation and meals, and Discover will get help to cover your travel expenses.
10. How do I apply?
If you're considering applying, do it via the official Discover web. You will find the applications at the bottom of the page. Applications are open until December 15th. (They are usually open around November to December every year.)
…Still want to know more?
Just text me. Leave a comment here, or message me on my IG or X. Discover is one of the things that I’m ultra-excited about, so I am ready to share more if you have questions. :)
One more disclaimer: This blog post is based on my best knowledge & personal experience and doesn’t officially represent Discover.