“I like playing with ideas."
Professor Frederick Howe

For society to succeed, ordinary people must be well educated. That conviction leads Professor Frederick Howe to evaluate his own performance even though he's been teaching at Buffalo State for more than 25 years. "If we don't educate everyday people well," he said, "it doesn't matter how educated the leaders are."

Howe lives his beliefs in two ways: by participating in the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) program at Buffalo State and by seeking new ways to prepare would-be teachers. "The research that I'm involved in now is looking at my own teaching," he said. "CASTL encourages you to examine teaching in a scholarly way, to ask specific questions, and to get data to find answers."

Students are sometimes intimidated by the high quality of work Howe expects. However, he presents models-examples of other students' work-to show exactly what he's looking for. And he makes himself available to students who want help. "Over the past weekend," he said, "I had probably six students call me with a question about their papers."

He challenges future teachers to think about the decisions they will make. He explores the belief that academic effort itself should be rewarded by asking, "Do you want a surgeon who tried very hard in medical school, or do you want one who actually knows how to operate?"

Howe hopes that his students will become teachers who think about issues such as structure, freedom, and creativity?much as he does. "I like playing with ideas," he said, "and teaching really allows me to do that."

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