Co-operative Education in Australia

Education

Co-operative education is central to the establishment, development and survival of co-operatives because co-operatives are uniquely different from public and investor enterprises. Co-operative values and principles (Click here for ICA Statement) are unique and, therefore, are integral to the co-operative practice and must inform co-operative education.

The Co-operative Federation of Victoria Ltd has been working with the UK Co-operative College in recent years.

Three Co-operative Identity Programs have now been successfully

provided in Australia by the UK Co-operative College in partnership with the Co-operative Federation of Victoria Ltd:

Capricorn Society Ltd. 30-31 August 2006

Murray Goulburn Co-op.Co.Ltd. 5-6 September 2006

Open Program 7 September 2006:

For a Co-operative College report Co-operative Identity, Values and Principles in Australia

For a brief report on the Co-operative Identity Open Program. on 7 September 2006.

For interviews by Chris Greenwood with Mervyn Wilson, Principal and Chief Executive officer, Co-operative College UK:

Choice From Crisis - Reasserting Confidence

Choice From Crisis - Co-operative Education

Mervyn’s working life has been spent with the Co-operative Movement. Over the last 30 years he has held a range of roles in education, training, membership development and learning within the Co-operative Movement. His co-operative career started with the former London Co-operative Society, and continued with Co-operative Retail Services and the Co-operative College. Since joining the Co-operative College in 1992 he has played a key role in developing programmes for directors and members of co-operatives, programmes around co-operative identity values and principles, and resources and programmes exploring co-operative methods of learning in work with teachers, young people and the College’s adult learners.

He has specialised in and written widely on membership and governance issues in co-operatives, and more recently the potential for co-operative models in the delivery of learning. Following the publication of “Co-operation and Learning” in 2003 Mervyn played a key role in an initiative that led the Co-operative Group to sponsor a number of Business and Enterprise specialist schools and a parallel curriculum development project funded by Co-operative Action.

Mervyn is a Board member of the Robert Owen Society and a member of the International Co-operative Alliance Governance Review Group. Mervyn is the Principal and Chief Executive of the Co-operative College.

Contact:
Phone: 0161 246 2902
Email: Mervyn

See also:

Co-opAdvantage Director Kit

pdf (892KB)

word file (1331 KB)

htm (2,295 KB)

From here you will also be able to secure educational papers that have the common aim of improving co-operative understanding and practice of the Co-opAdvantage:

What is co-operative development?

What is a co-operative feasibility study?

What is a co-operative manager?

Why is co-operative education a fatal flaw in Australia?

National Co-op Update has published various articles on co-operative education.

Click here for a list of 37 articles.

Last updated:05-Feb-2007

Co-operative Federation of Victoria Ltd, 71 Franciscan Avenue, Frankston, Victoria AUSTRALIA Telephone: 61 03 9785 6704
Email: cfv@australia.coop