The Journey of Scientists and Practitioners - Essay Example

The Journey of Scientists and Practitioners The Journey of Scientists and Practitioners Identification of Each Educator and their Main Contributions The article written by Silova and Brehm (2010) entitled “For the Love of Knowledge: William W. Brickman and His Comparative Education” proffered pertinent issues relative to Brickman as the instrumental contributor to the field of comparative and international education (Silova & Brehm, 2010). On the other hand, Flanagan (2005) wrote a book entitled Greatest Educators Ever and identified 18 educators acknowledged as exemplary and extraordinary educators the world has even known.

The educators and their main contributions in the field of education are summarized to wit: (1) Socrates, Search for Definition; (2) Plato, for the State; (3) Aristotle, for Leisure; (4) Jesus,for the Common Man; (5) Marcus Fabius Quintilian, of the Orator; (6) Aurelius Augustine, for the Inner Life; (7) John Amos Cornelius, as a Human Right; (8) John Locke, for the English Gentleman; (9) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, of Nature; (10) Jean Heinrich Pestalozzi, of the People; (11) Friedrich Froebel, Garden of Education; (12) John Henry Newman, University Education; (13) John Dewey, for the Future; (14) Maria Montessori, for Personal Competence; (15) Martin Buber, for Relationship; (16) Alexander Sutherland Neil, for the Liberation of the Psyche; (17) Paulo Freire, for Freedom; and (18) Ivan Illich, Without Schooling (Flanagan, 2005).

Resistance Encountered in their Research, Ideas, or Program From among the noted resistance in the proposed comparative education, Brickman faced lackluster support in the mid-1960s due to the dominance of science and statistical tools (Silova & Brehm, 2010, p. 24). There were eminent rapid decline in the educator’s publications on comparative education during this decade. Likewise, the tediousness in searching for citations in Brickman’s reviews of literatures and bibliographies were noted to have been disorganized but apparently “produced an almost unthinkable breadth and depth of analysis” (Silova & Brehm, 2010, p. 27). On the other hand, Socrates, for instance, one of the greatest educators noted by Flanagan (2005) encountered resistance and challenges in terms of his unconventional beliefs and philosophies used for this decision-making.

As disclosed, there were three explicitly mentioned singularities that marked him from the rest: (1) his claim that “he was the recipient of messages from an otherworldly, or inner, voice which frequently forbade him to do things he was thinking of doing” (Flanagan, 2005, p. 14); (2) his reported endorsement by the Oracle as the wisest of men; and (3) the observed habit of falling into long fits of abstraction (Flanagan, 2005, pp. 14-15).Similarities in Their Professional Stories The similarities in these educators’ stories are the dedication and commitment to the theories and concepts that were envisioned and conceptualized by them.

Brickman, for instance, was noted to be a perfect example of an educator who was “motivated to attain the highest levelof scholarship; and humorous and light-hearted to all those around him” (Silova & Brehm, 2010, p. 32). He was said to be persistently active: “active was exactly how he spent his retirement” (Silova & Brehm, 2010, p. 32). Socrates, on the other hand, acknowledged that “I have never lived an ordinary quiet life” (Flanagan, 2005, p. 16).Differences of Each Educator Each educator was apparently different in focus of ideologies and philosophies in education and teaching.

While Brickman focused on comparative education; Socrates focused his educational pursuit on the definition of a purpose: “a universally valid definition of anything- virtue, justice, beauty, truth, honesty, courage” (Flanagan, 2005, p. 18). Therefore, Socrates’ fixation was wider in scope, as compared to Brickman’s thrust on comparative education.Factor(s) (environmental, professional, personal) that have impacted their Success Brickman’s success was primarily due to an interplay of personal, professional, and environmental factors; through the assistance and support of his family, colleagues in the academe and the magnitude of academic resources and literatures at his time.

For Socrates, his success was primarily due to his personal motivation to seek truth through his philosophies and persistent, committed objective to learn more from what is apparently obvious in life.ReferencesFlanagan, F. (2005). Greatest Educators Ever. London, GBR: Continuum International Publishing.Silova, I., & Brehm, W. (2010). For the Love of Knowledge: William W. Brickman and His Comparative Education. European Education, Vol. 42, No. 2, 17–36.