How To Educate Others

Learning objective - a statement of what learners will be able to do by the end of a lesson or teaching sequence. It should describe the learner’s action, not the teacher’s activity. “Demonstrate how to check a fire extinguisher” is an objective. “Teach fire safety” is not, because it describes a broad intention.

Observable action - something a learner can do, say, make, select, or record so that another person can see evidence of learning. Useful action words include identify, compare, assemble, calculate, demonstrate, label, troubleshoot, and justify. Words such as know, understand, learn, and appreciate are harder to assess on their own. They describe mental states rather than visible evidence.

A strong objective usually contains three parts: the action, the content, and any important condition or standard. For example: “Given a customer’s room measurements, calculate the amount of paint needed, allowing for two coats, with an answer within 5 percent of the expected amount.” The action is calculate. The content is paint quantity. The condition is the room measurements and two-coat requirement. The standard is accuracy within 5 percent.

Success criteria - the specific features that show the objective has been achieved. Criteria should be written so learners can use them during practice and teachers can use them when giving feedback. If the objective is “Prepare a three-minute safety briefing for new gym members,” criteria might include: states the emergency exit location, demonstrates how to stop the treadmill, gives instructions in the correct order, and speaks clearly enough for listeners at the back of the room.

Objectives and success criteria are related but not identical. The objective gives the destination; the criteria describe the visible signs that the learner has arrived. A lesson may have one objective and three or four criteria. Too many criteria can hide the main purpose, while too few can leave important quality requirements unstated.

Specificity matters. Compare these two objectives:

• “Learners will understand how to use a spreadsheet.” - “Learners will enter six sales records, use a formula to calculate the total, and sort the records from highest to lowest value.”

The second objective gives you immediate planning information. Learners need a spreadsheet, sample records, a formula demonstration, and a sorting task. The assessment can use the same six records or a fresh set. The first objective gives no reliable basis for choosing any of those decisions.

A useful check is alignment. Alignment - the match between the objective, the learning activity, and the assessment. If the objective asks learners to demonstrate a practical skill, a lecture alone is not aligned. If the objective asks learners to compare two approaches, asking them only to define terms is not aligned. The activity should provide practice in the same kind of performance that the assessment requires.

Criteria also need a suitable level of difficulty. “Uses every advanced feature correctly” may be unrealistic for a first spreadsheet lesson. “Enters data in the correct cells and calculates a total using a formula” is more appropriate for beginners. A criterion should be demanding enough to matter but clear enough to guide improvement.

Ask yourself: if a learner completed the task, what exactly would you look for? If you cannot name the evidence, revise the objective before preparing slides or worksheets. The practical takeaway is to write the result first, then let that result determine the teaching.

Worked Example: A Food-Safety Demonstration

Consider a 45-minute session for new café staff on preventing cross-contamination when preparing sandwiches. The broad intention is “teach safe food preparation.” That intention is too wide for one short session, so it must become a focused, measurable target.

1. Choose the performance that matters most. The immediate workplace risk is transferring bacteria from raw ingredients or unwashed hands to ready-to-eat food. The lesson will therefore focus on setting up and completing a sandwich-preparation routine safely.

2. Write the objective. The objective becomes: “Given a clean preparation station and the required ingredients, prepare one sandwich using the correct handwashing, utensil, surface, and storage procedures, with no critical safety errors.”

3. Define “correct.” The phrase “correct procedures” is not yet observable enough. Break it into criteria: - Washes hands before preparation and after touching a contaminated item. - Uses the designated clean board and utensils for ready-to-eat ingredients. - Keeps raw and ready-to-eat ingredients separate. - Stores the finished sandwich in a labelled container at the required temperature. - Cleans and sanitises the work surface after preparation.

4. Identify critical errors. Not every mistake has the same consequence. Touching a clean wrapper with a wet glove may require correction, but using the same knife for raw chicken and salad without cleaning it is a critical error. The teacher decides that any direct transfer from raw food to ready-to-eat food means the performance is not yet safe, even if the sandwich looks finished.

5. Plan practice around the criteria. The teacher first demonstrates the full routine without interruption. Learners then practise in pairs, with one person preparing and the other using a five-item observation checklist. The checklist uses plain statements such as “hands washed at the correct points” rather than vague comments such as “good hygiene.”

6. Choose the assessment evidence. Each learner completes the routine individually. The teacher observes rather than relying on a written quiz, because the objective requires physical performance. The teacher records whether each criterion is met and notes any critical error.

7. Set the outcome. A learner meets the objective by meeting all five criteria and making no critical error. Suppose one learner washes hands correctly, uses the right board, keeps ingredients separate, and cleans the station, but stores the sandwich without a label. The evidence shows four criteria met, one not met. The teacher gives targeted feedback: practise the final storage step, repeat the routine, and check the label before leaving the station.

8. Review the lesson alignment. The demonstration, paired checklist, and individual observation all match the objective. A multiple-choice quiz could check recall of food-safety rules, but it could not prove that the learner can follow the routine at the preparation station.

Final result: the learner meets the objective only after completing all five observable criteria with zero critical safety errors.

Notice how the wording controls the teaching decisions. Because the objective names a real performance, the lesson includes a real station, real equipment, and direct observation. Because the criteria name the required details, feedback can be precise rather than general. The same method works for fitting a bicycle helmet, handling a customer complaint, setting up a power tool, or entering an invoice.

A useful reflection is this: which part of your own teaching is currently judged by a vague phrase such as “shows confidence” or “understands the process”? Replace it with actions that can be seen, heard, or checked. The clearer the evidence, the more useful the teaching response.

Practice: Writing and Checking Strong Targets

1. Improve this objective: “Learners will understand how to price a small repair job.” Hint: Name the information learners will use, the calculation they will perform, and an accuracy standard.

2. Write three success criteria for this objective: “Given a customer complaint, respond in a professional way and agree on a next step.” Hint: Include observable language about listening, response, and follow-up.

3. Choose the better assessment for this objective: “Demonstrate how to shut down and clean a commercial coffee machine safely.” Option A is a ten-question written quiz. Option B is an observed shutdown and cleaning routine using a checklist. Hint: Select the evidence that matches the verb “demonstrate.”

4. Spot the alignment problem: The objective is “Compare two ways to reduce energy use in a workshop,” but the activity asks learners only to copy definitions from a handout. Hint: The activity should require comparison, not copying.

5. Set a clear completion rule: A typing lesson objective requires learners to enter a 120-word customer note with accurate formatting. What additional evidence could make “accurate” measurable? Hint: Decide which formatting features matter and set a small error limit.

Answer Key: For Question 1, a strong response could require calculating labour and materials for a repair and producing a total within 5 percent of the expected price. For Question 2, suitable criteria include listening without interrupting, summarising the complaint accurately, and agreeing a specific next action and time. Question 3 is Option B because direct observation matches the required performance. For Question 4, replace copying with a task in which learners compare cost, likely impact, and practicality. For Question 5, specify features such as the correct heading, paragraph spacing, customer name, and no more than two typing or formatting errors.

Every objective should lead naturally to evidence, and every criterion should help a learner recognise the next step. When those links are in place, lesson planning becomes less about filling time and more about guiding a visible change in performance.

End of chapter one. 4 more chapters in the full book.