Cooperative Education: Challenges, Problems, Potential

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this research is to reveal the nature, directions and tasks of cooperative education, to consider the problems, potential opportunities and its key elements in different age groups and different national conditions. It is particularly important to identify the contribution of cooperative higher education to solving the most important socio-economic problems of our time. Cooperatives are credited with the ability to solve many problems, and their future is linked to solving market problems, or they are claimed to contribute to structural change. Another argument is that a pluralistic economy is sustainable in times of recent crises, and that cooperatives play an educational role for those involved in the functioning of civil society. Finally, there is the idea that cooperatives can be transformative, so they are able to gradually transform the economy into something similar to a cooperative community. Cooperatives do not exist everywhere and are not considered necessarily on the periphery of society: they are valued in many countries. The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) (ILO and ICA, Cooperatives and the sustainable development goals: a contribution to the post-2015 development debate, joint paper, ILO and ICA, 2014) track their various types and record their contributions. This research attempts to understand the prospects and possibilities of cooperative education and its ability to bring about broader social change.KeywordsCooperative educationCooperative organizationsJEL CodesA13A20A21A22A23A29