Dr William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, or ‘Doctor Du Bois’ as he insisted on being addressed, was a great scholar, historian, Pan-Africanist, sociologist, and pacifist. He was a picture of the modern intellectual and scholar engaging eclectically in philosophies ranging from Calvinism to Socialism. His thought was to shape the world after it emerged in America against the backdrop of considerable racial barriers. Read more…
Don Lorenzo Milani was an educator of the poor who developed methods of critical pedagogy and an advocate of conscientious objection. He is credited with contributing to critical citizenship which holds relevance today for the health of every open democratic society and his utilization of language as a vehicle to transmit his philosophy. Read more…
John Pounds was born on June 17th 1766 and died on January 1st 1839. In his time he did unfathomable amounts of work to improve the lives of many people, particularly children, in the city of Portsmouth. It is arguable that this humble man, ‘the crippled cobbler of Portsmouth’, has played one of the most significant roles in shaping the social and educational landscape of the United Kingdom, and possibly beyond. All because he gave his life over to being a teacher when there were none, and acting true to a selflessness and an altruism which was to go on to inspire people such as Charles Dickens and the Reverend Thomas Guthrie. Read more…
Emile Durkheim founded the subject of Sociology on a lifetime of study and review of sociological phenomena. He published his “The Division of Labour in Society” in 1893, and his last, “The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life “ in 1912.
Janusz Korczak was the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit, a Polish-born doctor, author and seminal educator, who dedicated his life to caring for children, especially orphans. Korczak believed that children should always be listened to and respected, and this belief was reflected in his work.
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