May it be with good intention or not, sometimes we find ourselves telling people how to to do things.
Telling someone how to do something is sometimes just as bad as telling them not to do it. No one likes to be told, rather shown how something is done and let them decide for themselves if that’s the way they want to do it. For us there might be a right way and a wrong way of doing something but for the other person our right way might not be theirs.
If we are going to teach a skill or two then we should teach it with passion and understanding, the person learning will in their own way absorb that skill and the way it was taught.
If we punish someone for doing wrong what we taught, we let ourselves down for not teaching it the right way, you see there is more then one way to achieve the end product, the importance is what is learned in the process, both by the student and teacher.
'Teaching' per se is merely the means by which we impart information or advice to others; 'learning' is what they then go and do with it. With a practical-based activity like bushcraft, help to improve a learned skill is often sought; the delivery of that advice from someone who has, in the eyes of the recipient, greater expertise or experience, is usually well received and, in most instances, will help the pupil to improve or gain a deeper understanding. Following the delivery of information, the most important element is for the 'teacher' watch the 'pupil' practise that skill, suggesting ways in which the technique might be finessed further.
I don't think that, unless life and limb are at stake, one would ever turn round and say 'don't'. It is too aggressive a way to encourage subtle or gentle alteration of the practice. If, however, the 'pupil's' safety or that of someone nearby is compromised, then, yes - use it. The curt order will produce the desired response; however, it is always worth explaining later, once the situation has been defused, why that shouldn't be done otherwise the 'pupil' feels only admonished rather than informed.
I would add that there is no particular 'right way' in bushcraft. Some ways are more effective and efficient than others and it is practice that allows us to reach a greater level of efficiency over time. When 'teaching', we are often just passing on the findings of our own informal practice or research for the 'pupil' to do what they will.
'Understanding', in terms of knowing what is involved in succeeding at lighting a fire or carving a spoon, is important but so is the understanding of the mistakes that people will make - and continue to make - on their journeys to becoming a 'better' bushcrafter. Tolerating the errors does not make you a bad 'teacher'; indeed, explaining how to mitigate that error makes you a better one. Passion, with all its deeply-felt connotations and associated intolerences, should be there but, to ensure the constructive and successful delivery of the subject, should be expressed in broad terms (i.e. "I'm passionate about bushcraft") rather than ones specific to the topic taught.
Ultimately, people who practise bushcraft at whatever level do so because they want to be there. They are a willing audience, keen to improve their skillset and knowledge. The job of the teacher is to provide that resource in a way that is accessible, enthusiastic and that will result in the 'pupil' having learned something that will help them practise with greater certainty. That passing of information to a
receptive audience is something not mentioned thus far: education. This is the set of skills that are vital and which have no written curriculum. They take in responsiveness, interest, engagement, thinking, discernment and reflective practice among many, many others. As Albert Einstein once tellingly said, "Education is what is left when we have forgotten what we learned." As in life, so in bushcraft: we learn and practise many skills but it is our education that allows us to concentrate on the ones that are apposite and relevant.
