Democracy and schooling: The paradox of co-operative schools in a neoliberal age?. Issue 6 (28th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Woodin, Tom; Gristy, Cath
• Is Part Of: Journal of philosophy of education. Volume 56:Issue 6(2022)
• Page Start: 943
• Page End: 956
• Publication Date: 2022-10-28
• Subjects: co-operative -- co-operative schools -- democracy -- movement -- school; Education -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; Education -- Great Britain -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; 370.1
• DOI: 10.1111/1467-9752.12690
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0309-8249

Abstract

Abstract: From the first co-operative trust school at Reddish Vale in Manchester in 2006, the following decade would witness a remarkable growth of 'co-operative schools' in England, which at one point numbered over 850. This paper outlines the key development of democratic education by the co-operative schools network. It explains the approach to democracy and explores the way values were put into practice. At the heart of co-operativism lay a tension between engaging with technical everyday reforms and utopian transformative visions of an educational future. A new arena of debate and practice was established with considerable importance for our understanding of democratic education within the mainstream.