Co-operative schools are characterised by the co-operative values and principles which underpin the practice of all

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

organisations. In

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, around 850 schools currently use co-operative values to support the

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

design,

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

and structures for accountability and

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

History

Co-operative schools have a long history in Britain, and can be seen as part of the

British co-operative movement The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7,000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started w ...

growing out of the

Owenism Owenism is the utopian socialist philosophy of 19th-century social reformer Robert Owen and his followers and successors, who are known as Owenites. Owenism aimed for radical reform of society and is considered a forerunner of the cooperative ...

sparked by

Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist, political philosopher and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement, co-operative movement. He strove to ...

's work from the 1820s to combat poverty by creating worker co-operatives. Another inspiration came from progressive Swiss pedagogy, like that of

Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg (27 June 1771 – 21 November 1844) was a Swiss educationalist and agronomist. Biography He was born at Bern. His father was of patrician family, and a man of importance in his canton, and his mother was a granddaug ...

's at Hofwyl School. The first co-operative school may have been Ealing Grove School, which was founded in 1834 by

Lady Byron Anne Isabella Noel Byron, 11th Baroness Wentworth and Baroness Byron (; 17 May 1792 – 16 May 1860), nicknamed Annabella and commonly known as Lady Byron, was an educational reformer and philanthropist who established the first industrial s ...

Current organisation in the United Kingdom

Two main forms exist in the state education system: co-operative trust or foundation schools and co-operative academies.

Foundation schools: Co-operative trusts

Co-operative trusts were made possible under the 2006 Education and Inspections Act, introduced by the then Secretary of State for Education,

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British former politician, broadcaster and economist. He served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2011 to ...

MP. The 2006 Act provided two main aspects of legislation, which could be characterised as 'carrot and stick' in their purpose. The latter embraced a series of powers for local authorities and the Secretary of State to intervene in underperforming schools, classified at the time as those with the lowest grades of

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

Inspection outcomes. These powers are set to be extended considerably through the introduction of the 2015 Education and Adoption Act. Using these powers, a pioneer model of a foundation trust based on co-operative values was used for the first time in 2007 by

Reddish Vale High School Reddish Vale High School, formerly Reddish Vale Technology College is a secondary school in Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield ...

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

. Within a year, a further 25 schools adopted the model as one offering strong values and extensive engagement of all stakeholders within the learning community. The growth of the sector or movement has embraced all phases and has seen particular interest from schools offering special educational provision.

Co-operative academies

The UK's

Coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

, elected in 2010, rapidly passed new legislation in the form of the

Academies Act 2010 The Academies Act 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It aims to make it possible for all publicly funded schools in England to become academies, still publicly funded but with a vastly increased degree of autonomy in issues ...

to enable a considerable growth in 'independent state sector' schools in England - namely

academies An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. These operate under a direct contractual arrangement and funding agreement with the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

in England - with the

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

relinquishing powers of supervision or intervention. Furthermore, provisions were enacted which meant that all newly established schools would from this point forward be independent of the local authority. In response, the co-operative education movement worked with the

DfE The Department for Education (DfE) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further, and higher education), apprenticeships, and wi ...

to formulate a variant of the standard Academy Articles, the legal constitution, to embrace key elements of co-operative values and principles.

National and regional networks

As the numbers of co-operative schools and partnerships increased, the need for a national body to provide a voice for the movement was increasingly clear. In 2009, the Schools Co-operative Society was established to fulfil that function, with a membership system and representatives on a national board reflecting the regions. An example of cross-region collaboration can be found in the links forged between LASER and the Eastern Region in 2015, using the vehicle of the Co-operative Schools Network (CSNET) to share communications, administration and intellectual property freely and co-operatively with each other.

References