Can't do it!, Don't know how to do it!, and Don't know why I should do it! Almost all classroom issues faced by course directors and teaching assistants fall into one of these groups.

The "can't do it" problem is usually beyond the scope of an instructor. Being a good university teacher means facilitating learners, not spoon-feeding empty vessels. Students lacking basic skills need to be directed to specialized services: to improve their English-as-a-second-language proficiency, to be tested for learning disabilities, to reformulate their academic study plans. Or, they need to make alternative financial arrangements to allow them more time for studies. Instructors can only point the way; it's up to students to accept responsibility for their own learning.

The "don't know how" problems are dealt with in lectures, tutorials and office hours. The main difficulty here is that issues of knowledge and motivation are often confused. Not knowing how is challenging to deal with unless the "don't know why I should bother" issue is also addressed. Once a student is motivated, the "don't know how" problem is often easily resolved.

How can one motivate students? To us, it is essential to link the classroom experience with the post-graduation workplace experience. Students are instrumental; they have arrived at university with a notion that their studies will improve their life chances, and especially their career prospects. The university-career equation has been drilled into their heads by parents, guidance counselors and an obsessively instrumental society.

Thus, once at York, it should not be surprising that students become unsure that studying Plato, 15th century papal history, Karl Marx and so forth has any relevance in making them employable. Not surprisingly, many then stop trying to excel but settle into a "going through the motions" pattern, especially prevalent in 2000 and 3000 level courses.

Many of our younger students, quite understandably, do not comprehend that reviewing books and articles, giving presentations, asking insightful questions, quickly absorbing new facts, having strong writing skills, and performing under time pressure ARE the skills that they will require in the workplace, especially in professional occupations. Why is it that many students fail to make this connection, even when we–as course directors and teaching assistants–insist that it is true?

A significant percentage of our students are from working class and/or recent immigrant families. As such, they may not have within their families a clear understanding of the linkage between a university education and workplace success. Second, some of our students may indeed have university educated parents, but these, because of their non-Canadian education and experience, may be in occupations that do not require the writing, reading and thinking skills that are the core of a university education. Both they, and their children, may logically question whether doing well in university necessarily results in a good job.

Additionally, the overwhelming majority of our students have part-time, if not fulltime employment. However, these are in service or front-line jobs where the connection between strong communication and critical thinking skills and workplace success is not apparent. Not surprisingly, their temporary reality may obscure the important fact that the skills needed for any professional occupation are the generic skills required to excel in university.

Finally, and again not surprisingly, our students are impatient. We need not blame their short attention spans entirely on our information age or "just in time" society. York students pay considerable tuition fees and are under considerable parental pressure. Although the parental pressure is to do well at school, it is perhaps as much to earn money and contribute to the family, and improve their social status. As such, many students are desperate for quick results. They want to graduate and get on with their lives. Sadly, those not successful at school are streamed by employers into less interesting jobs, while future education in the form of upgrading or graduate studies is barred. Moreover, their lives will not be anywhere as enriched as if they embraced their university studies more wholeheartedly.

Let us be clear that our intention is not to make university learning a function of career requirements. What we are suggesting is making an often obscure or invisible relationship–between classroom skills and workplace skills–more clear and explicit. Each course director and teaching assistant can do this in his or her own way. However, it does require a somewhat altered, and more studentcentred, perspective on the role of teaching in the modern university.

As academics, we need to remind ourselves that our personal career choices are situated in a narrow band. As practitioners of increasingly specialized disciplines, we should be aware that we have a tendency to reproduce ourselves. The vast majority of our students will not become academics, but will obtain a wide range of jobs, some of which we cannot even conceive of at present. As such, most students do not have the same degree of interest in the subject we teach.

We must address this reality if we want students to be motivated. We can do this by giving examples of successful people in business, entertainment, sports, politics, etc. who studied in areas quite removed from their professions. And this has helped them! We can explain to students that life-long learning is a feature of any interesting occupation. And we need to provide them with examples.

We can reassure students that they will be successful in the "real world." We can impress on them that a university education pays off. In 2001, according to Statistics Canada, the average earnings for someone living in Toronto with a university degree was $56,267, while those with a college diploma or certificate earned $38,569, and those who had only a high school diploma $28,885 [see Note 1].

Perhaps most importantly we can ask recent graduates to return to our classrooms and speak of their experience in the labour force with a BA.

In July, after her first week of full-time professional employment in Canada, a June graduand with a BA in Psychology and Labour Studies degree reflected:

I was a bit surprised to find out that formal orientation and training are not typically conducted in my unit. I suppose the approach is "learning by doing." In fact, on Wednesday, my manager asked me to write a review of a research report (134 pages!) about a comprehensive school reform initiative in the U.S. Essentially, I was to summarize the impacts of the initiative, analyze policy and program implications, make recommendations, and submit it in two days–that is, Friday. I have to admit it was rather overwhelming to be thrown into the job like that. Thank God I finished it! I have yet to receive feedback from him–hopefully, positive feedback.

In reflecting on her experience, this graduate will clearly realize that her courses, in areas completely removed from her first job, gave her all the skills she needs to prosper in the workplace. Even more so, it was the writing and communication skills, apparent on her resume and during her interview, which made her the successful candidate in the first place. She will most definitely be invited to come speak to one of our classes in 2005–06. Our current students will be more likely to believe her, than they would us, when she reports that the best preparation for flourishing outside of university is flourishing in university.

Thomas R. Klassen and John A. Dwyer are the authors of the recently published book, Flourishing in University and Beyond (available at the York Bookstore for $18.95).

Note 1. See http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/labor50g.htm