Help us develop a model for co-operative higher education

Hi Joss,

Thanks for posting this. I just want to lend my support - Lincoln Social Science Centre is itself a co-operative venture (linked / housed - depending on your point of view) at Lincoln University in the UK, and is one of the more innovative initiatives to have surfaced in the UK in the last few years.

Both Sheffield Business School and the Cooperative College are participating/contributing to the project and Joss himself is actively researching all aspects of cooperative education.

Hope you get value from participating in some way.

Joss - if you see value, you can invite people linked to the project into the 'Community Forum' - it can act as a place for everyone to converse when they can't meet face to face. If you need / want a sub-group, let me know and I can put you in charge of it.

Hi Joss and Rory,

This sounds like a great project, and it's certainly relevant to this cooperative business education forum. I am interested in the topic on three levels: (1) making space for teaching cooperative principles and practices within existing institutions of higher education; (2) establishing, developing, and strengthening consortia organized around such principles and practices; and (3) and exploring opportunities to restructure higher education around cooperative models.

I look forward to learning more about your project at the Social Science Centre and to participating in this discussion. I know of colleagues in the Basque Country, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand who would likely also appreciate being in this loop.

Thanks again,

George Cheney
University of Utah, University of Colorado, and University of Waikato

Hello George,

Wonderful! If you haven't already, please could you take a couple of minutes to complete this form so that I can keep track of who wishes to participate:

http://goo.gl/forms/RVIbSm0KnF

Also, if you could email me the names of people elsewhere (Spain, Australia, etc.) who might be interested, I will contact them, too. My email is: [email protected] Thank you.

It is gud to see such project.
Pl. send me the details of the project, so that i can contribute.

Dr Karthikeyan - Joss has provided a link to the project in the description section at the top. Here it is:

"The details of the project and the sign-up form can all be found here:"

http://bit.ly/1FgSyqc

I think you can use this link to find out more about the project. The other link is for registering your interest in participating in an online forum.

Dear Professor

Thanks a lot

On a related matter, I am looking for someone outside the UK who is interested in applying to the EU to undertake research into co-operative higher education with me. Details are here: http://josswinn.org/2015/05/research-fellow-in-co-operative-higher-education/

Colleagues,

After running an OPERA session at the Cooperative and Social Enterprise Summer School, these three perspectives emerged from the deliberations.

Favoured responses to the question "how can studying the social solidarity economy revolutionise enterprise education"?

1) Studying the solidarity economy will impact on enterprise education curricula:

By making the solidarity economy a necessary (required) component of business and management courses, it ensures that social values and democratic decision-making become central to enterprise education

2) Studying the solidarity economy can be linked to new work placement opportunities:

By understanding the multiple perspectives of participants in the solidarity economy, more effective integration of its social and economic aspects can be achieved. Engagment will enhance knowledge of the relationship between the theory and practice of social entrepreneurship, and build bridges between the institutions of organised labour, social entrepreneurship and cooperative development.

3) Studying the solidarity economy challenges cultural assumptions based on individualism, consumerism and greed:

Questioning the above can alter a person's world view. If started in primary school education (where students are naturally cooperative), it can become embedded in their outlook. As their education progresses, it can offer a wider range of opportunities and career paths that will result in more people participating in the sector.