English Essay

The efficiency of an educator can be seen in the generations of students that precede them. Whether an educator simply recited information from textbooks or truly gave students a well-rounded view point on their specific-content matter can make the difference between a disinterested and interested student. William W. Brickman and Paulo Freire are famous educators whose works have had significant impacts on the cohorts after them.
In his biography of educational authorities, Flanagan (2005) gave an account of the Brazilian, Paulo Freire, and the journey that lead to his educational perspectives. Paulo Freire was a famous educator who lived from 1921-1997. After the infamous Stock Market Crash of 1929, Freire’s once financially secure family had their sheltered position stripped from them during the Great Depression. During his encounters with the poor and underprivileged, Freire gained a better understanding of the factors that kept these “oppressed” individuals weak.
According to Freire this group was immersed in what he called a “culture of silence: accepting their situation as part of the natural order and lacking a voice to speak out against the injustices which dominated their daily lives (Flanagan, 2005).” After his experiences with the downtrodden, Friere worked to free the oppressed from their mental constraints. Flanagan (2005) summarizes his contributions as follows: “He worked throughout his life for the liberation of the oppressed, promoting education which enhances critical thought, challenges conventional limits of freedom, and aims at the liberation of teachers and learners everywhere.”
The article For the Love of Knowledge gave a thorough account on the life and contributions of the renowned educator William W. Brickman. According to Silova and Brehm (2010), Brickman’s educational pursuits began when he was a young growing up in the poor, “multilingual Lower East Side of New York City in the early twentieth century.” Because of the wide variety of languages spoken in this area, Brickman had the opportunity to submerge himself in a variety of cultural experiences. When his service in WWII was over, he served as at New York University as a professor in the history of education department.
This is where he began to make his contributions to the field of education, including establishing the Comparative Education Society (CES). He developed parameters for what he felt comparative education was in terms of historical research and a wide scope of viewpoints; he also served as journal editor for the “larger academic community” (Silova and Brehm, 2010).
Each educator faced different forms of resistance as they aspired to further their work. Brickman’s view of “epistemological diversity” in the field of comparative education was obscured by prevailing science and statistics. According to the article, “the emergence of science and statistical tools, challeng[ed] the field’s former grounding in educational history and philosophy (Silova and Brehm, 2010). This shift in philosophy exiled those, such as Brickman, who practiced historical scholarship in comparative education from the field into other realms of education. Flanagan (2005) suggests that Freire’s main opposition stemmed from advanced industrialized societies. These societies contribute to the oppression of the people by encouraging the “banking concept of education.” In the banking concept of education, educators contribute to the passive teaching philosophy by simply speaking as the student listens, instead of being actively engaged in critical thinking. In Freire’s opinion this concept can be nullified “by a more liberating philosophy of education that transforms the human experience from passive/receptive to active/creative” (Flanagan, 2005).
Brickman and Freire shared similar characteristics in their views on education. Both educators had a fervent love of learning. Silova and Brehm (2010) stated that Brickman knew that “he had not obtained the truth, but was constantly engaged in seeking it”. Brickman was quoted in the article saying that he strived “to sift fact from fancy and to eliminate error from erudition”. He also described being a “true scholar” as “somewhat of Plato’s philosopher, a lover of knowledge” (Silova and Brehm, 2010). Freire’s philosophy on learning was that “It is learning itself, the seeking, the process of becoming educated, which should be of paramount importance and not the accumulated knowledge, as life is a succession of problems to be worked on and solved (Flanagan, 2005)”. Each of these educators saw the importance of the continuous pursuit of knowledge.
William Brickman did not have the good fortune of growing up in an affluent household. While both educators grew up in poor households, Freire had the experience of being wealthy at one point during his childhood. I believe that their upbringings had a significant impact on their successes. Brickman grew up in a very diverse community. The diversity that he was exposed to was probably a major factor in his “wide and diverse” vision of the CES. Brickman was able to see ideas from a variety of perspectives, which could be confirmed by the quote he used “quot homines, tot sententiae”- so many men, so many opinions (Silova and Brehm, 2010). In the case of Freire, experiencing peasantry gave him a more in depth view of the poor. This experience allowed him to see the injustices that the poor were subjected to and, consequently, make an effort to fight on their behelf.

Flanagan, F. (2005). Greatest Educators Ever. London, Great Britain: Continuum International Publishing.
Silova, I., & Brehm, W. (2010). For the love of knowledge. European Education, 42(2), 17-36.