Scenario A:
A Grade 8 classroom instructor plans to teach a one-week unit in a traditional 50-minute class setting. He has identified a realistic time of 150 minutes devoted to new personal finance content plus 35-50 minutes for review and 30 minutes for end-of-unit reflection or assessment during class.
| Sample Map A: One-Week Unit
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Day 1
Preview Unit
Topic A (30 min)
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Day 2
Review Topic A
Topic B (40 min)
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Day 3
Review Topic B
Topic C (40 min)
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Day 4
Review Topic C
Topic D (40 min)
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Day 5
Review Topics A-D (20 min)
Assessment/Reflection (30 min)
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Scenario B:
A certified financial planner has been asked to facilitate a three-hour personal finance workshop for local scouts on a Saturday morning. She estimates dedicating at least 140 minutes to introduce key concepts and engage scouts in hands-on activities. This workshop time frame allocates an additional 30 or 40 minutes for housekeeping tasks, reflection and planning next steps to complete badge requirements.
| Sample Map B: Three-Hour Workshop
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(15-20 min)
- Housekeeping
- Preview badge requirements
- Introduce topics
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(140-150 min)
- Presentation and learning activities
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(15-20 min)
- Wrap Up
- Preview next steps to complete badge requirements
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Step 2. Audit your audience.
What is most relevant to your learners? Base this on their life stage and the skills and knowledge they have acquired from previous experiences. Use available resources to gather information about what students have learned in the past and the skills they have or that they are developing.
Develop a persona profile to describe your learners. Within privacy boundaries, consider what is going on in the lives of your learners to determine the financial decisions that they are facing now or that they are likely to face in the near future.
Scenario A:
The instructor who is teaching the one-week Grade 8 personal finance unit surveys the elementary teachers to find out which financial education concepts were covered in previous grades. In an informal discussion, he asks his students what questions they have related to money decisions. He also knows from other interactions that many of his students earn money from occasional jobs such as childcare, pet sitting and yard work.
Scenario B:
Before facilitating the scout financial education workshop, the volunteer instructor previews the scout badge requirements. She also asks the scout leader to share general and pertinent characteristics of the scouts, provide background on previous financial literacy development and give examples of financial decisions that apply to the group or that are common among the individual scouts.
Step 3. Select relevant concepts for your audience profile.
What financial literacy knowledge and skills are most relevant and logical for your audience and for the scheduled time frame? This is intentionally slotted for the final planning step. Learners will be overwhelmed with too much information covered in a short time frame. And they will be underwhelmed with concepts that they have mastered or that are not applicable to their current lives.
Working from what was discovered in Planning Step 2, brainstorm a list of key concepts that your audience can act on now or in the near future. Prune the list into a manageable scope based on the most realistic time you have available for presentation and learning activities. This is the critical step.
Aim to provide learners with relevant skills and knowledge that they can realistically absorb, apply and share with others. Avoid rushing through too much material taking into consideration a realistic depth of learning and expected competence by end of the experience.
Years ago I taught a variety of business courses for a full range of students, age 9 up to age 85. Although each course or workshop covered a similar subject for different age groups, the specific concepts and activities needed to be customized to each audience demographic and need. Different topics were covered in the middle school personal finance classes than what was covered in the adult financial workshops. The scope of content covered during a two-week financial unit was far leaner than what was studied in depth during a semester personal finance course. In all cases, learners gained practical skills.
Short-Cut Tools
The three-step planning process becomes instinctual with practice and repetition. Strive to adapt the system for your teaching style and available financial education resources.
To reduce the planning time in Step 3, reference any of the following resources to help you discern what lesson content is most appropriate for your situation.
Just as individuals adapt commonly accepted financial planning strategies in ways that make sense for their own situations, financial educators must tailor learning experiences to be sensible for their instructional conditions and relevant for the learners. Make the most of your prep time and the learning time by shrewdly crafting a financial education experience that provides not too much nor too little substance. Intentionally plan for just the right amount of content for long-term results.
NEFE Nudge: When faced with decisions about what to teach during a financial education class or workshop, streamline the planning by first considering the time frame and audience characteristics so learning focuses on the most logical topics.