Recommending reading on cooperatives and democratic education for the Train-the-Trainers workshop

Readings from the Train-the-Trainers for cooperative developers and educators (workshop facilitation guide)

Readings on cooperatives

• The site of the International Co-operative Alliance, in particular What is a co-operative: http://ica.coop/en/what-co-operative (the site is also available in a number of other languages).
• The sites of the organizations helping to put together the Co-op Business Academy:
  • Cooperative Development Institute, http://www.cdi.coop
    • Especially the Madison Principles, to which co-op developers are asked to subscribe
  • Cooperative Fund of New England, http://www.coopfund.coop
    • Particularly their FAQs
  • Grassroots Economic Organizing journal, http://www.geo.coop
    • And if you like, the article by Center for Family Life on incubating immigrant-owned worker cooperatives in Brooklyn
• Cultivate.coop, the new site for learning and sharing about cooperatives, is worth browsing (and adding to!), and has several relevant articles (these look like a lot but most articles are short):
  • Cooperatives: http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Cooperatives
    • Cooperative principles http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Seven_Cooperative_Principles
    • Cooperative values http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Seven_Cooperative_Principles
  • Types of cooperatives: http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Types_of_Cooperatives
    • you might also want to click on the specific co-op types, especially if they are going to work with that type of co-op
  • Starting a cooperative http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Starting_a_cooperative
    • Steps to starting a cooperative http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Steps_to_starting_a_cooperative
    • Reasons to start a cooperative http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Reasons_to_start_a_cooperative
  • Cooperative Alliances, Federations, and Networks http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Cooperative_Alliances,_Federations,_and_Networks
  • Co-op Business Plan http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Business_plan
    • Budget sources for a start-up cooperative http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Budget_sources_for_a_start-up_cooperative
  • Mission Statements http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Mission_statements
    • Case studies http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Case_Studies:_Cooperative_Mission_Statements
      • Creating a shared vision http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Creating_a_shared_vision
  • Cooperatives/low-income communities
    • Cooperatives in low-income communities http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Cooperatives_in_low-income_communities 
    • Community economic development and cooperatives http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Community_Economic_Development_and_Cooperatives
  • Deciding how to decide (and types of decision making in co-ops) http://cultivate.coop/wiki/Deciding_how_to_decide
• North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) site
  • Organizer's Handbook http://nasco.coop/development/node/138

Readings on Democratic Education and Participatory Facilitation

1. Democratic education in cooperative development
2. Hand, Head, and Heart techniques in cooperative education
3. Twelve Principles for Effective Adult Learning, Chapter 1 of Learning to Listen-Learning to Teach: the Power of Dialogue in Educating Adults by Jane Vella

• In a hurry? Here are the 12 principles adapted for a Lutheran seminary: http://www2.luthersem.edu/mhess/vella.pdf , 5 pages.
• Got some time? Here is the whole chapter, 24 pages: http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/77/07879596/0787959677.pdf

4. The Do’s and Don’ts of Helping Others - David Ellerman, from “Helping self-help: The fundamental conundrum of development assistance.” In his book Helping People Help Themselves Ellerman added a third Do, which summarizes all of the Do’s and Don’ts: Do Respect the Autonomy of the Doers. The following link is to an earlier paper, but the book is worth reading, too: http://www.ellerman.org/Davids-Stuff/Dev-Theory/JS-E-Self-Help-reprint.pdf

5. Introduction: Participatory Practices in Adult Education, pp. 1-12

6. Excerpts from School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL)’s manual (supplemental reading) : http://www.cdi.coop/SOUL-excerpt.pdf

• Note that SOUL has a very particular political organizing approach. For our purposes, we feel that their pedagogical approach is useful to a more general audience and well presented. It looks like a lot of material, but there is a lot of space. Feel free to skip around.

7. Introduction: The Power in Our Hands - a curriculum on the history of work and workers in the United States. 8. Examine portions of these workshops to see sample popular education lesson plans. You DO NOT have to read all of these. We just want you to flip through and skim these exercises/workshop facilitation guides to see some sample popular education experiences.

• Popular Education for Human Rights: 24 Exercises for Facilitators and Educators (Download PDF)
• An Economic Crisis Workshop from United for a Fair Economy - sign up for the website and download the PDF.