Schools should be viewed not only as institutions that impact certain knowledge and skills to students, but also as environments that socialize them. Education should be seen as a democratizing force that helps to prepare students to participate actively in all aspects of democratic life. As John Dewey (in Koliba, 2000) postulates, the aims of education should be oriented towards preparing young people to be full and active participants in all aspects of democratic life. The skills and dispositions needed to actively participate in all aspects of democratic life include: the ability to think critically, a sense of efficacy, a commitment to compassionate action, and a desire to actively participate in political life by engaging in local decision-making processes, lobbying, voting and many others, as well as the basic need to be able to read, write and do arithmetic or mathematical calculations. In a sense, schools that best teach students the skills to participate actively in democracy are themselves institutions that reflect democratic principles not only in word, but also in deed.