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IASCE Forum #1
In this issue of
the
IASCE Newsletter, we are fortunate to have two entries in the series of
IASCE Forum "calling cards" that describe the development of cooperative
learning in various countries around the world. Forum coordinators are
IASCE Board members
Yael Sharan
(yaelshar@zahav.net.il) and Kathryn Markovchick (kathrynm@maine.edu).
Forum entry #1 in this issue discusses CL in parts of the UK.
Two years after the 2002
Manchester IASCE conference –
Co-operative Learning – a
perspective on its ‘fit’ in the education system in
England and Wales, Summer 2004
Maureen Breeze, Alan
Wilkins, Pam Walker and Peter Duncan
Introduction and context
A
distinction can be made between the UK co-operative learning (CL)
tradition and that from the wider IASCE network. In the UK, the primary
focus is on the process of developing co-operators in tandem with
using Co-operatives as a context for learning, rather than CL being
identified as a detached pedagogy.
The
Co-operative Movement is recognized as having its roots in the North of
England when the first successful co-operative shop was opened in Rochdale
160 years ago – set up to meet a social and economic need. This beginning
spawned the worldwide movement we have today with co-operative enterprises
present in over 100 countries worldwide, involving more than 730 million
individual members. Co-operative enterprises are evident in a wide range
of sectors including retail, housing, health, agriculture, finance,
fishing and social care.
Co-operatives as enterprises are based on a set of fundamental values such
as democracy, equality, social responsibility, self-responsibility and
solidarity. These values were endorsed by the International Co-operative
Alliance’s (ICA) statement on the co-operative identity in 1995. Active
members of Co-operatives uphold these values, and it is the systematic
application of these values to their participation that defines them as
co-operators.
British Co-operatives, since their beginning, have regarded the provision
of education, training and development for their members and the
communities they serve as a fundamental principle. However, it is only
during the last two decades that a connection has been made to the
learning and development of young people in the formal education systems
across the UK. Evidence suggests that before then, teaching was
predominantly about Co-operatives as economic and social
enterprises.
During the 1980s the large UK-based Co-operative Societies started to
provide financial and personnel resources to support a new perspective on
‘co-operation as a process’, which could deliver a wide range of
learning and social development outcomes. Society Boards of Directors
justified their decisions, recognizing that young people were now not only
being taught about Co-operatives as business structures and their place in
social history but the co-operative skills to participate in
co-operatives. Much effort was placed in enabling schools to set up
student Co-operatives so that the learning would be through
experiencing active co-operation.
Today
the distinctiveness of CL (as opposed to collaborative learning) in the UK
is understood most widely as any learning that takes place collectively
and is based on co-operative values. It is an ideological position as well
as a set of techniques, where the learning context of Co-operatives as
organizations and a different way to do business has an important role to
play in the education of young people.
The
successes of the main UK protagonists of CL have often been based on
opportunism and a knack for identifying ways of introducing co-operative
concepts and principles via the ‘back door’. The culture of the education
system in England over last 15 years has been in direct contention with
the principles of CL. The introduction of a national curriculum to all
English schools in 1988 and the preoccupations with inspections and school
league tables has inhibited the wider curriculum in recent times by
imposing highly structured programmes of learning to meet accreditation
requirements set by external validation bodies. In this climate, it has
been difficult for CL to impact systematically on teachers, schools, Local
Education Authorities or the Government. Coupled by a decline in funding
by the big Co-operative Societies and consequent loss in experienced
facilitators, the chances of moving the concepts further forward until
recently appeared to be diminishing.
Current opportunities
National agendas come and go, and the current Government’s policies appear
to be opening up a few backdoors…
Citizenship
Two
important Government reports published in 1999/2000 detailed a perspective
on the introduction and development of citizenship in the curriculum.
These applied to both the formal and informal education sectors in England
and were directed at all students up to 19 years of age.
The
ambition was summed up:
‘We aim at no less than a change in the
political culture of this country both nationally and locally: for people
to think of themselves as active citizens, willing, able and equipped to
have an influence in public life…’
This initiative prompted the theme of the last IASCE conference held in
Manchester in 2002,
Co-operative Learning and Responsible Citizenship in the 21st
Century.
The
citizenship initiative’s reference to value dispositions has an uncanny
correlation with the ten values identified by the ICA. It has been the
exploration of this connection and the relevance of CL approaches that has
been a feature of several conferences and workshops held over the last two
years.
The
promotion of democratic practice through ‘active citizenship’ is creating
a steady change in the mindset of young people across the country. More
young people are engaging with the values, responsibilities and rights
associated with citizenship, in parallel with practical experiences. These
include contributions to their communities; young peoples’ representative
procedures in school and college councils; Youth Parliaments;
consultations with Local and Central Government agencies; local Borough
Councils and community service providers.
Citizenship is now a compulsory element of the curriculum in England and
its effect is challenging young people to collaborate, work and learn in
groups, and participate in collective decision-making and presents a
perfect opportunity to introduce CL.
Education Reform 14-19
Another major reshaping of the English education system is about to
commence, with the proposals published recently the Government’s
Tomlinson report. This seeks to reorganise the 14-19-education system
with less structure, and greater focus on vocational and work-related
learning and will be systematically introduced over the next decade.
Alongside of this is a major push to increase the enterprise capabilities
of young people, and this will feature highly in the curriculum for 14-16
year olds from 2005. National pilots are in process and present
opportunities to promote CL, as the recent specification for the next
round of pilots includes social and co-operative enterprise.
Examples of activity
Ipswich and
Norwich Co-operative Society (INCS)
The
Ipswich and Norwich Co-operative Society (INCS) has been continuing to
work across the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk during the last two years
rolling out programmes to meet national and local agendas, mainly focused
around the emerging themes of citizenship, enterprise and
entrepreneurship. INCS has developed a range of programmes for direct work
with students in schools, teacher training explaining the benefits and
methodologies of CL and training for senior managers in co-operative ways
of managing educational institutions.
A new
resource directly focused on the needs of the new vocational qualification
for Business Studies for 15 year olds has been developed. This uses
the INCS business as a real context for learning about how a co-operative
works, is managed and its ethos. A CD-ROM allows students to interrogate
the material developed by two teachers on placement with the Society and
interview staff through the interactive technology.
INCS
has run three pilots of the CASE (Co-operative and Social
Enterprise) initiative (see details later). The pilots have involved over
150 students aged 12–15 years and have developed into a number of
innovative new enterprises. For example: a trade fair run by 50 12 year
olds involved them setting up and running 10 of their own co-operative
businesses. A peer-mentoring scheme for a large mixed comprehensive school
was developed and is now run by students as a social enterprise.
The
Society has run training sessions for teachers and educators
throughout the past year, addressing the needs of schools covering all age
ranges from 4 to 19 years. These sessions firstly explain the values and
principles of co-operation, their translation into ‘education speak’ and
then explores the relevance to specific curriculum areas. Participants are
provided with a ‘toolbox’ of easily applied methods and activities. Some
of the most successful training workshops have been those targeted at
Headteachers and Senior Managers of educational institutions, where topics
such as co-operative ways of dealing with change, leadership, management
qualities and behaviour have been explored
A
further two new innovative programmes have been developed in 2004.
The
Promoting Positive Behaviour Scheme engages with a wide variety of
community partners on a 5-day programme involving a High School and its
primary feeder schools. It trains partners from the schools, police,
community workers, shopkeepers, businesses, housing officers and even the
milkman sometimes and involves them in a programme of working with young
people in their schools. It addresses the issues of anti-social behaviour
and develops responsibility for communities, raising awareness of economic
and social cohesion. The external evaluator for the scheme named his
report ‘Waves not fingers' - young people in the community now WAVE at
their ‘community partners’ and no longer ‘stick FINGERS in the air’ at
them! A true mark of the success of the project.
The
Young Co-operative Entrepreneurs Course
engages with 15 young people on a two-day residential programme. The
students are selected as being bright and entrepreneurial but bored,
disengaged and often disruptive. The intensive course takes them through a
process of learning to work co-operatively together and to harness their
unique ‘off the wall’ entrepreneurial skills for the benefit of others.
The programme involves setting up and running a co-operative or social
enterprise and looks at how the energy these young people clearly have can
be harnessed in a positive way.
This
year will see the third annual Co-operative Learning Conference –
called, ‘Co-operative Solutions to….’. The Manchester
IASCE conference was just ahead of the first
INCS conference, and INCS have gone from strength to strength. This year
INCS have opened their doors to the rest of the
UK –
indeed the world! If you are interested please email the office for
details:
education@ipswich-norwich.coop.
Work
across East Anglia is expanding so fast that INCS have been supporting
development a local group of 18 trainers The ‘First Question’ group,
who have been trained by CLADA (Co-operative Learning and
Development Associates - Pete Duncan and Alan Wilkins). Members of the
group have been co-training on all INCS programmes throughout the year.
So –
a very co-operative picture in East Anglia and one stemming from a
medium-sized, but very committed retail co-operative society dedicated to
engaging with its community and offering co-operative opportunities to
all.
News from Dynamix
Dynamix Ltd, who many will remember as facilitators at the Manchester
IASCE conference, continue to develop innovative projects in co-operative
education throughout the U.K.
Working in partnership with Save the Children,’ they have published a book
on co-operative approaches to Children's Rights called "Participation -
spice it up “ and, with Thompson Publications, two books in a series
called "Can Do" looking at co-operative play for children of different
ages. More books are in production - including ‘Everyone can do - Music!’
Using
funds from the U.K. Co-operative Council and local Co-operative Societies,
they ran ten pilots in schools looking at approaches to co-operation and
social enterprise. Two dissemination conferences are planned - in Swindon
and Norwich during the summer. Details from
case@dynamix.ltd.uk. Dynamix and
Alan Wilkins Consulting have developed student and teachers resource
materials. The materials can be found at
www.case4us.co.uk and can be
used in a flexible and creative way in most school settings.
In
partnership with the
Co-operative
College and a Teacher Training Co-op, Dynamix produced a teachers’ pack
called "Not just for Profit.” The pack uses co-operative methods to
present ideas around social enterprise to 12-18 year olds:
(details
from www.dynamix.ltd.uk).
The
most recent project in Wales concerns a "training the trainers" course at
University College of Wales in Swansea. Using co-operative theory, methods
and values, an eight-week programme looks at ‘skilling up’ staff within
the Students Union. Students elected to run the Union will receive
co-operative training to enable them to train others - staff in the union
and students running voluntary societies. The course was felt to be so
valuable that local charities and voluntary organisations are also
participating: (details from pete_cotrain@yahoo.co.uk).
And news from Wiltshire
Maureen Breeze manages the Wiltshire Education-Business Links Consortium
and promotes CL through the context of co-operative and social enterprise.
She works closely with local Co-operative Societies and Social Enterprise
Development Agencies focusing particularly at students between 14-19.
The
Consortium has supported the involvement of four schools in the CASE
project and an interesting development with a Credit Union to set up a
school bank. This is run democratically by the students and bases its
operating principles on those of the Credit Union – a community savings
and loans co-operative. By necessity, students have developed their
co-operative skills! The expansion will involve the five neighbouring
primary schools.
There
are plans to set up a KETS scheme – Kids Exchange and Trading Scheme,
based on the principles of a LETS scheme (Local Exchange and Trading
Scheme). Young people will trade their time and skills between each other,
using a notional currency in a bartering fashion. The young people will
democratically manage the scheme.
In
the autumn, a regional conference – ‘Enterprising Schools’ - will bring
together educators from the South West. They will examine how they can
develop their schools as social enterprises – where enterprise is not
‘taught’ but experienced by the students through the whole school culture
and approach. The underpinning of these schools will be co-operative
values. CL techniques will be integral in translating these values into
practice.
The Future
The
processes of CL as a distinct approach have a huge contribution to make to
these new priorities in the UK. There is now a viable platform for
promoting co-operative perspectives on learning and social/co-operative
enterprise.
Unfortunately, no major co-operative institution is nurturing,
coordinating or financing a network of co-operative educationalists.
Currently, the drive for change is vested in disparate groups of committed
co-operative educators and activists working with schools and colleges,
who are seeking to make a difference in the current educational provision
and that of the next decade.
Nevertheless, in these circumstances, there is much to be proud about, and
there are some very active pockets of activity.
Contacts
and networks
info@co-operativelearning.net.uk
www.dynamix.ltd.uk
Maureen Breeze –
m@ureenbreeze.co.uk
Pam Walker, Ipswich and Norwich Co-operative Society’-
education@ipswich-norwich.coop
Peter Duncan -
pete@clada.co.uk
Alan Wilkins –
alan@clada.co.uk
www.case4us.co.uk
   
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