'Connections – From Class to Career' takes learning outside the classroom
By Anju Kakkar and Saran Davaajargal
What happens when Humber faculty sit around a podcast mic and conduct interviews with innovators, change-makers and trailblazers? The answer is a symphony of perspectives—and the foundation of Connections – From Class to Career, a podcast series featured as a Humber Polytechnic Academic Plan Priority 3 project. In doing so, the project offers a compelling example of how Humber faculty bring the Humber Learning Outcomes (HLOs) to life—making abstract skills like critical thinking, communication, and career readiness visible and tangible for students.
At first glance, this might look like just another podcast. But beneath the surface is a powerful rethinking of how we teach and why we teach. The series tackles big themes such as professionalism, ethics, and resilience and asks Humber faculty members, graduates, and community members to reflect on how these values show up in their courses, conversations and commitments to students. In doing so, the podcast helps students uncover the invisible threads between personal values, academic learning, and future careers.
We met with Mark Andrade and Michael Spencer, faculty members in the English department, to find out what inspired them to start the project, how the podcast enhances learner outcomes, their plans for the project and more.
HP: How did the idea for the Connections podcast come about?
Mark Andrade: We’re currently in the stages of revamping our courses in the English department. Through that process, we started to think about our courses and how the courses connect to other program areas. And then we started thinking about how students aren’t just learning from the classroom, but they’re bringing in their hobbies, their backgrounds or interests. So we started to think about how the podcast could be a way to show students not just the connectedness of their education but also how the workplace is also a part of that.
Michael Spencer: Mark and I would meet outside of the school and talk about work and what we’re doing in the classroom, but then inevitably, we start talking about our own lives, and we realized that the things that we do on the side are connected to the things that we are teaching our students and what we’re talking about in class. So we started to see the connections between our lives and the things we’re doing in class and realized that that might also be true for students and other people, and we thought it would be useful to share those conversations in a way.
HP: What gap does this initiative address—for both students and faculty?
MS: The podcast allows us to take the learning outside of the classroom and show our students, through these conversations, that the things we’re talking about in class and the skills that we keep saying are important are important by talking to industry experts outside of the classroom and the school. It allows us to connect the dots and show students that there is a connection between what we’re talking about in class and outside of the class.
MA: Sometimes employability skills can be hard for students to see. With the video podcast, we were hoping that, literally, they could see their professors connecting with other professors, industry professionals and people who are doing great entrepreneurial work. And we wanted to highlight that what they learn in the classroom does have value outside and vice versa. The podcast is also just a current and popular format. So we use that as a way to show these connections between what students are learning and their hopeful future professional lives as well.
HP: How do you see this project contributing to the driving impact pillar of Humber’s Building Brilliance vision?
MS: The podcast does a good job of showing diverse kinds of leadership and what that leadership might look like to students. And that leadership can look many different ways, sound like many different things and manifest itself in different ways. All the people we spoke to are leaders in their own ways. And I hope the podcast shows those different forms of leadership and how people can drive impact in their own ways, in their own communities and their industries.
MA: Through doing our research and presenting at conferences, we started noticing these core skills, such as resilience, curiosity and lifelong learning, come up again and again, whether it is from the World Economic Forum, Humber Polytechnic or industries. Our podcast touches on those thematic core skills.
HP: Were there any moments on the podcast episodes that particularly moved or stayed with you?
MS: The episodes all had their moments. For me, it was the conversation with Mohamed Hassan. He leads the player marketing for the Canadian Football League (CFL), and I have a personal interest in the CFL. So, it was an interesting conversation to begin with. But he also talked a lot about the role of his parents as Somali immigrants coming to Toronto, and how the risks that they took as immigrants and as part of the diaspora community here have influenced his own attitudes, motivation and drive, and how that all connects to the work he does as a marketer, but also with his work to uplift the Somali community and bring them together through sport. That episode stayed with me.
MA: We loved each episode, and each guest brought a unique perspective. In particular, through our conversation with Matt Maw, who’s an Indigenous label director for Red Music Rising, it was interesting to hear him reflect on his journey through the indie Toronto music scene and how he, at times, kept his Indigenous identity separate. At a certain point, he saw them coming together and became an advocate for Indigenous music and promoting it. It was him reflecting personally on his experiences and journey, talking about his family and how it intersected with an opportunity to be the director of an Indigenous-owned and operated label. I think it’s powerful for students to see how your personal life can sometimes inform the direction you take in your professional life.
HP: What is the current status of the project, and how do you see it evolving in the future?
MS: We are currently wrapping up all the episodes, and we are working with our wonderful student editor, Sam, who is working on polishing the episodes. We are creating a lot of learning outcomes that put season one to rest. We are in the headspace of finishing season one, but we have had some conversations, and even when we were drafting the proposal, we realized that this is a great podcast that could continue to season two. We’re not podcasters by trade, and we’ve learned a lot from season one. We could improve on certain things and focus on different aspects. But I think moving forward, we thought either we could be hosts for season two, or there could be an opportunity for other faculty at Humber to take or have more student involvement. It’d be powerful to get more students involved, get their perspectives and voices, and even have them be guest hosts.
MA: I think centring student voices more would be great. What exactly does that look like? I’m not sure, but having students ask those questions and finding the people to ask those questions would be interesting.
Making Connections—Driving Impact
At Humber, driving impact means making space—for diverse voices, personal journeys, and values that echo far beyond the classroom.
In a world saturated with noise, Connections – From Class to Career reminds us that deep learning begins with listening. Through thoughtful dialogue and cross-disciplinary respect, this podcast series embodies the kind of academic storytelling that not only informs but transforms.
Connections – From Class to Career is more than a podcast—it’s a campus-wide conversation that prepares students for a future they are already shaping.
Hear the full interview with Mark Andrade and Michael Spencer below: