Developed by Squid Academy
Esports Educator Certificate Program
A 14-module professional certification for esports educators, across schools, universities, and community settings.
"A certificate isn't a trophy for finishing. It's a promise to every student you'll ever teach."
Program purpose and positioning
The Esports Educator Certificate Program (EECP) is a structured professional certification that prepares educators to deliver esports education with confidence. It is built for schools, universities, community organisations, and gaming hubs, and it assumes no prior esports expertise on the part of the educator.
The program rests on one founding idea: esports is the medium, not the goal. Every module uses competitive gaming as a context for building transferable skills, and never treats game mastery as the point. The educator's role is to facilitate that learning, not to perform expertise.
Across 14 modules, an educator builds a complete, integrated craft. Through the certification they develop:
- The facilitator's confidence to lead esports learning without being a specialist, a psychologist, or a counsellor.
- Sound teaching practice including understanding the modern student, genuine inclusion, and calm classroom management.
- Real care for wellbeing and safety held firmly inside a clear duty-of-care boundary.
- Modern, responsible practice from guiding productive AI use to designing curriculum and running events.
- Portfolio-ready capability to deliver the full Squid program portfolio in any setting.
The program is institution-ready and LMS-hosted, self-paced for the individual educator and equally suited to whole-team rollout across an institution.
Educational philosophy
A single spine runs through every module. It is what makes one certification enough to prepare an educator for the whole of esports education, and what keeps the program consistent from the first module to the last.
Esports is the medium, not the goal.
Every module uses esports to build transferable skills. Game mastery is never the objective.
The facilitator stance.
Educators guide learning, discussion, and reflection. No esports background, psychology training, or counselling role is required or expected.
Safety as a constant.
A clear duty-of-care boundary, notice, support, escalate, runs through the program, so an educator always knows the limits of their role.
Applied, not theoretical.
Capability is demonstrated through realistic scenarios and practical work, not memorised theory.
Evergreen plus refreshable.
Durable principles form the core of each module, with a clearly marked current layer kept fresh through quarterly updates, so the certification never goes stale.
Program architecture
The 14 modules run in sequence, but they fall into four natural clusters that build from foundations to confident, real-world delivery. Modules cross-reference each other freely and can be taken in the order that suits a cohort.
Modules 1, 2, 11, 12
Foundations and Industry Context
What esports is, how the global scene and events work, and where it all leads as a career.
Modules 3, 4, 5, 6, 9
The Teaching Core
Understanding students, teaching well, including everyone, managing the room, and designing curriculum.
Modules 7, 8
Wellbeing, Technology and Modern Practice
Keeping students well and safe, and guiding their use of AI and modern learning tools.
Modules 13, 14, 10
Standards, Currency and Delivery
What the certification means, how educators stay current, and how the whole craft comes together in delivery.
The 14 modules
Each module is self-contained and pairs an expert-led eCourse video with an in-depth reference handbook and a practical assessment. The modules are listed here in sequence.
Introduction to Esports Education
What esports is and why it belongs in education
Global Esports Landscape, Events, and Policy
The global scene, events, governance, and regional difference
Understanding the Modern Student
Who today's students are and how to meet them
Foundations of Teaching for Non-Teachers
The lesson arc, active learning, feedback, and reflection
Being an Inclusive Esports Educator
Noticing barriers and giving every student a real way in
Student Engagement and Classroom Management
Routines, pacing, psychological safety, and a calm response to toxicity
Responsible Gaming, Wellbeing, and Student Safety
Healthy habits, online safety, and safeguarding within the boundary
AI, Technology, and Modern Learning
Guiding productive rather than passive AI use
Esports Curriculum Design and Lesson Delivery
Designing backward from outcomes and assessing applied skills
Delivering the Squid Program Portfolio
The capstone: bringing the whole craft to real delivery
Esports Events, Tournaments, and Competitive Learning
Running events as rich learning experiences
Careers, Industry Relevance, and Future Readiness
Honest pathways, transferable skills, and portfolios
Assessment, Certification, and Educator Standards
The competency framework and the educator code of conduct
Staying Current: Quarterly Esports Education Updates
The quarterly model that keeps the certification current
Each module is independently authored and reviewed for subject-matter accuracy, child safety, and cross-regional relevance.
Module structure and delivery
Every module is delivered through the Squid Academy LMS and follows a consistent three-part structure. Log in, watch, read, and complete the assessment. Nothing requires specialist preparation.
Part 1
eCourse Video
An expert-led video that brings the module's ideas to life, streamed directly from the LMS.
Part 2
Reference Handbook
An in-depth handbook capturing the full module content for educators to read, keep, and return to.
Part 3
Assessment
A structured, three-part assessment that confirms both understanding and applied capability.
The assessment, in three parts
Part A
Knowledge check.
Auto-graded multiple choice that confirms the core ideas have landed.
Part B
Scenario responses.
Short written answers to realistic situations. Safeguarding-adjacent scenarios are reviewed by hand by a member of the Squid Academy team.
Part C
Applied task.
A practical artefact the educator can use in their own setting, marked against a clear rubric.
Quality assurance and accreditation
Squid Academy's teaching methodology has been independently evaluated by Education Alliance Finland, a global education quality assurance body grounded in Finnish pedagogy.
Independently evaluated by Education Alliance Finland
92%
Pedagogy score
4.2 / 5
Learning engagement rating
This validates the program's educational design and its suitability for formal institutional adoption.
What a certified educator can do
On completing the certification, an educator can:
- Facilitate esports education in any setting, without being a specialist.
- Understand and teach the modern student, and include every learner.
- Manage a competitive classroom calmly and keep it psychologically safe.
- Protect student wellbeing and act correctly within a safeguarding boundary.
- Guide responsible, productive use of AI and modern learning tools.
- Design and adapt esports curriculum, and run events as learning experiences.
- Give honest, encouraging careers guidance without overselling professional play.
- Uphold a clear code of conduct and stay current as the field moves.
- Deliver the full Squid program portfolio across schools, hubs, and universities.
Delivery, flexibility and who it's for
Self-paced through the LMS.
Educators progress module by module at their own pace, with video, handbook, and assessment in one place.
No prior esports expertise required.
The certification assumes teaching instinct, not gaming credentials.
Individual or whole-institution.
Equally suited to a single educator's development or to certifying an entire team.
The program is designed for:
- Schools and high schools introducing esports or competitive gaming
- Universities running esports programs, societies, and pathways
- Community organisations, youth centres, and LAN or gaming hubs
- Existing Squid Academy delivery partners certifying their educators
Institutional fit and next steps
The EECP is the educator-facing companion to the Squid program portfolio: Modern Sport Pathways, Play The Game, Mind Your Game, and Business of Esports. Certifying your educators means your institution can deliver any of these programs, in any setting, with confidence and consistency.
- Phased adoption or full-team rollout
- Alignment with existing staff development and CPD
- A credible, expert-backed route to esports teaching capability
All content is production-ready and LMS-hosted from day one. Detailed program scope, implementation planning, and partnership terms are shared through direct consultation to ensure alignment with institutional goals and local requirements.
Let's talk
To find out how the Esports Educator Certificate Program can equip your educators, get in touch.