ABSTRACT
The emergence of co-operative education represents a potential alternative to the prevailing focus upon competition, choice and a narrow definition of standards. As a concept, co-operative education is under active construction and encompasses a broad church of practices. One of the incarnations of co-operative education is the mini-co-operative enterprises that have been established in schools, referred to as Young Co-operatives. The direction of education policy, as well as deepening social and economic inequalities, hardly offers an auspicious starting point for co-operative and democratic education. The resulting tensions between the promise and the reality, and between the dream and the actual life of co-operative education, underpin this chapter. Paradoxically, the expansion of co-operative education appears to be predicated upon the erosion of assumptions built into the post-war public system of education. Historically, co-operative education has been shot through with the twin emphasis upon building 'co-operative character' as well as contributing to civic and educational life.
