Teaching assistants whose own academic work focuses on the theoretical traditions within their discipline are driven by a genuine interest in, if not passion for, the history of ideas. The main challenge in a tutorial setting is to stimulate this passion for concepts among students. While all TAs must cover purely theoretical material at one point or another, the teaching challenges involved in presenting and discussing such abstract material are considerable. In what follows, I draw upon my own TA experiences in the social sciences in order to outline the difficulties involved in 'teaching theory' as well as a number of useful strategies for addressing them. I further try to define and describe some clear learning outcomes for students, as well as rewards for both students and TAs.

Many students find the style and structure of theoretical texts unfamiliar, even impenetrable, especially if they have never taken a course that focuses on the theoretical traditions in their discipline. Thus, many may not have developed a set of reading skills which allows points of access into a text or the ability to reconstruct the logical flow of an argument. Add to this the need for students to develop their own interpretation of the text, where, infamously, there is no 'right' answer, students commonly experience frustration and doubt with respect to their learning capacities. These anxieties can often lead TAs to question their own teaching abilities.

Faced with these challenges, one of the most crucial tasks a TA must perform is to draw attention to the power of ideas within the context of historical and contemporary events to effect change. Connections must continually be drawn between the abstract concepts under discussion and everyday life. While this is a general task throughout the tutorials, I have distributed short newspaper articles and even song lyrics to students and asked them to work together to apply the concepts under discussion to this contemporary material. This past year, for example, we looked at how existentialist themes such as anxiety, time, and mortality could be identified in lyrics from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, and how some of the course readings on Freud could help explain the anti-globalization protests that took place recently in Québec City.

The goal of these exercises is to cultivate a productive engagement with theory by generating a reaction among students to the concepts under discussion, whether positive, negative, ambivalent, or impassioned. On the basis of these reactions, students can be encouraged to take up and defend a position with respect to the material. With these objectives in mind, there are four strategies I have employed which have consistently proven effective.

One of the hardest challenges in a tutorial is simply getting participants to speak, and so I often break the tutorial down temporarily into groups in order to create a more intimate and less intimidating environment for students to express their ideas, doubts, and questions. All or each one of the groups is given a question to answer or a concept to discuss, and is responsible for presenting its findings to the tutorial. Apart from asking students questions of concept definition, questions such as 'Which concept or idea of thinker X do you find most interesting, engaging, or even annoying?' or 'Which do you find the most or the least convincing? Why?' usually work out well in terms of generating a prolonged discussion. The main advantage of this group work lies in the opportunity for students to learn from their peers and to contribute reciprocally to their peers' learning. Indeed, one of the most useful comments a student has ever made to me concerned how much she had learned from hearing other students work through their thoughts and ideas.

Another way to give students the opportunity to learn with their colleagues is to ask for volunteers to present assigned readings, without being formally evaluated. The reading is divided up between two or three students, each of whom is given five minutes to present on what they take to be the main points or arguments of the text. The short presentation time is a deliberate choice on my part, for it reduces the pressure of speaking in public, and encourages concision. Moreover, seeing and hearing their colleagues talk about theory demonstrates by example that theory really isn't so impossible after all, and stresses the participatory aspect of the tutorial. If a full complement of presenters cannot be put together, I will take a section myself. My participation also helps to convey by example how one could approach a theoretical text and tease out salient material.

Once students have reached a degree of comfort with the material, classroom team debates can be organized. Two teams of two participants each are asked to explain what they see as the three central ideas of a particular thinker, and three reasons why their fellow students should or should not ascribe to this thinker's way of interpreting the world. The most memorable debates we conducted this past year focused on whether or not we should all become Kierkegaardians or Nietzscheans. Because students had to take up a position with respect to each thinker, the debate was lively, engaging, and covered a good deal of theoretical ground.

The final strategy I will discuss is the use of student journals. Like the other activities, consistently giving students five or ten minutes to write down their reactions to and ideas about the concepts at hand creates yet another opportunity for a constructive engagement with theory. This exercise begins to accustom students to writing about theoretical concepts and potentially provides raw material for essays and assignments. Thus far, I have not ever asked to see the journals, as the aim of the exercise is simply to have students express themselves. Towards the end of the course, I ask students to review what they have written and comment upon how their ideas have developed.

I orient the role I take up as a TA in these strategies around three core activities. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, I prepare questions which are designed to generate an engaged response. I also aim, with care and respect, to clarify discussions and comments that get off-track or demonstrate difficulties with the material. Finally, I endeavor to serve as a guide and sometimes as a participant in fleshing out particularly important points or ideas as they come up in discussion.

All of these strategies aim to build students' confidence in their ability to understand and respond to theoretical texts, as evidenced in their increasing capacity to ask pertinent questions and participate in constructive discussion. This outcome also builds the confidence of TAs. The most gratifying rewards for both students and TAs lie in those moments where impassioned, collective learning takes place, and all participants sense that new ways of thinking about the world have been opened up.