After the family, schools are probably the most dominant social
             institutions in the life of most young Americans today. It is in school
             where many children spend much of their waking hours. It is through the
             formal and informal education they receive in school that children learn
             This places schools and teachers in an extraordinary position to
             influence the minds and attitudes of the country's youngest citizens.
             Philosopher John Dewey (1916) stated that the end goal of education lies
             beyond teaching young people job skills. Instead, education should prepare
             a young person to participate in "a common life" that constitutes this
             country's democracy. Children should be taught how to think and reflect
             critically. Thus, for Dewey, educators are charged with being an
             inspiration, in addition to teaching job skills (Dewey 1916).
             For Jane Addams (1910), education should play a more overt role in
             ushering in social change. Towards this, she called attention to the fact
             that education can be a fundamentally undemocratic institution in itself.
             Addams therefore cautions that educators should take into account how some
             people may require different teaching techniques. Those "whose facilities
             are inert and sterile" would have difficulty keeping up with the rest of
             the class. It is the teacher's duty, stated Addams, to ensure that all
             participants benefit from the learning process (Addams 1910).
             The principles of Dewey and Addams are echoed in the more modern
             pedagogical teachings of Donald Schon, who further investigated the
             importance of cognitive tools and reflection on the learning process. A
             strong critique of rote learning, Schon recognizes that social and
             technological change is fundamental features of modern life. Towards this,
             Schon (1968) recognized that schools themselves should respond to the
             changing needs of its studentry and the community.
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