Teaching

Professor Howe endeavors to have students come away from his courses with an appreciation for complexity and a respect for opposing viewpoints. Many (all) of the issues he considers involve controversy, for which there are no unquestionably right answers. Digging into complex material and engaging in critical dialogue about it helps reveal the kind of complexity that is almost always there. Thus, when students take their own positions, they should not be inclined to rely on caricatures and to demonize those with whom they disagree. They should also appreciate that their own view is not perfect, but rather the best they can do under conditions of uncertainty.

Courses Frequently Taught

Philosophy of Education (EDUC 5055)
The course is devoted primarily to examining the role of education in promoting a just and democratic society. It examines the views of philosophers such as Plato, John Dewey, and Amy Gutmann. Plato provides the first fully developed Western conception of education, a nondemocratic conception, and his views serve as a foil for democratic views, as well as the more radical views of thinkers such as Foucault and Freire. One of the major issues addressed is how these thinkers might respond to the challenge to incorporate oppressed and excluded "voices." Feminism is an important part of this conversation.

Seminar in Philosophical Issues in Educational Research (EDUC 8804)
General topics include a comparative analysis of the “paradigms” of positivism, interpretivism, critical theory, feminism, postmodernism, and pragmatism. Topics that cut across these general paradigms and help distinguish them from one another include the quantitative/qualitative debate, the fact/value distinction, relativism, objectivity/subjectivity, and bias. The emphasis is often on philosophy of science as much as (or more than) on educational research per se, but the course generally seeks to explore and strengthen linkages between philosophy of science and educational research wherever they exist.

Social Foundations of Education (EDUC5005)
The course is designed to acquaint students with the broad moral-political dimensions of public education that frame competing positions on issues such as tracking, multiculturalism, gender, and school choice, to name a few.
Two major threads are woven through the more specific issues examined: (1) the traditionalism versus progressivism divide, and (2) the drive for educational equality, spurred in recent history by the landmark Brown versus the Board of Education decision in 1954.