In his book Democracy and Education, philosopher John Dewey acknowledges that "since growth is the characteristic of life education is all one with growing; it has no end beyond itself. The criterion of the value of school education is the extent in which it creates a desire for continued growth and supplies means for making the desire effective in fact" (62). These words begin to define why I have chosen to devote my life to this cause. Much of our culture supports the idea that education is merely a means to an end. Many of us trudge through our years in the university with the singular goal of becoming a doctor, lawyer, accountant, or scientist, and think once we achieve this title, our education is over. Yet we couldn't be more wrong. Education is the key to the survival of democracy and the development of the self. As educational leaders John Dewey and Paulo Freire believe healthy democracy requires educated citizens capable of thinking critically and communicating their ideas both clearly and respectfully. As an educator, I believe it is my purpose to equip students to participate in democracy and see themselves as global citizens with a responsibility to their fellow human beings. In this manner, I base much of my approach to education in the theories of critical and expressive pedagogy, believing in the importance of developing the individual voice of the student in the context of the world around them.