Cooperative schools: what are they, how do they work, and what sets them apart from the rest?

It's 9 a.m. and, near the Daina-Isard School, families are waiting for the school's doors to open. Inside, the teaching staff is preparing for a new day of classes, and the administrative and service staff have already put everything in its place. The scene is very similar to that experienced every school day in other schools in Catalonia. However, at this school in Olesa de Montserrat, in Baix Llobregat, there is a peculiarity not often seen: the families who are waiting are equal owners of the school. All can participate in the decisions that affect the direction and organization of the school where their children attend.

This is because the Daina-Isard School is a teaching cooperative. This model has been deeply rooted in Catalonia for decades, but is still relatively unknown. This year, for example, the Olesa school celebrates 55 years of existence with more than 1,200 cooperative members, 800 students—from pre-school to high school—and 100 professionals. Like the Daina-Isard School, there are some 40 cooperative schools throughout Catalonia, totaling around 17,000 students and nearly 1,900 employees, according to data from EscolesCoop, the federation that brings together the majority of cooperative schools in the country. But what exactly is this model and how does it work?

Values at the center

"We are a project that grows thanks to the support and commitment of all the families," Montse Herrera, general director of the Daina-Isard School, tells ARA. Cooperative schools are defined, precisely, as having a democratic and collective operation: they are educational projects managed by the families themselves, the teachers, and the non-teaching staff, who are often also members. "They are subsidized schools, but the cooperative model goes far beyond ownership or financing: what defines a cooperative school is its way of being and doing, rooted in the values of democracy, participation, equity, social responsibility, and collective commitment," adds the governing board of EscolesCoop when questioned by this newspaper.

EscolesCoop's member cooperatives include preschools, primary and secondary schools, special education centers, high schools, and vocational training centers, many of which have a long history. "Although quantitatively we are a small part of the education system, qualitatively we represent a transformative, coherent educational approach rooted in the values of cooperativism," the federation maintains.

In Olesa de Montserrat, apart from the Daina-Isard School, there is another long-standing educational cooperative. It is the Creixen Povill school, founded in 1934, affiliated with EscolesCoop and serving around 700 students in pre-school, primary, and secondary education. Since 2018, the school has been part of Creixen Educació, a second-level cooperative that brings together several cooperative schools such as Creixen Goar in Viladecans and Creixen Terrassa in Terrassa. Behind it are three major Catalan cooperatives: Escola Sant Gervasi, Suara, and Abacus.

For cooperative schools, education is synonymous with developing active citizenship. "We educate for freedom and responsibility," summarizes José R. Bertolín, pedagogical director at Creixen Educació. Freedom understood as the ability to decide, make mistakes and participate. And responsibility as the commitment to act with knowledge, respect and self-regulation.

According to Bertolín, these values permeate the daily life of Creixen schools: from student assemblies to their involvement in evaluation committees and the creation of community rules. "Creativity, critical thinking, and academic excellence are objectives we pursue with rigor and shared commitment," she notes.

The keys to the model

One of the elements EscolesCoop highlights when explaining what makes cooperative schools unique is the self-management, both pedagogically and financially, that the schools possess. But above all, they emphasize the importance of the values they convey. "The unique thing the cooperative school model does is put into practice the values it promotes: collaboration, shared responsibility, dialogue, internal democracy, and social commitment," explains EscolesCoop. "In a cooperative school, the educational project and the management project go hand in hand, and this translates into a profound coherence between what is said, what is done, and what is done."

At the Daina-Isard School, which is not affiliated with EscolesCoop, they agree. "We strive to ensure that cooperativism, as an organizational model and a set of values, is present in the classrooms and is part of student life at school, from preschool through high school," says Herrera. To this end, they organize everything from weekly assemblies where students can make their voices heard to thematic committees made up of students, teachers, and families. "We have one for March 8th that plans and executes events related to International Working Women's Day, another for social involvement that organizes everything from blood donation drives to charity runs, and another to prevent bullying, which ensures a positive atmosphere of coexistence at the school..." explains the director.

The challenges of the future

Looking to the future, EscolesCoop predicts a long life for the cooperative school model and, in fact, detects a growing interest in this approach. "In a context marked by social and environmental uncertainty, many families are looking for schools that not only transmit knowledge, but also help children and young people grow as committed, critical, and empathetic individuals," they explain.

However, they also issue a warning. "One of the main challenges we face is maintaining economic sustainability without sacrificing quality or cooperative values," asserts the governing council. The federation cites regulatory changes and the lack of updated funding for the educational agreement as two of the factors putting the greatest pressure on schools' resources. "This affects, for example, the ability to invest in innovation or guarantee adequate working conditions," they point out. They also point out that regulations are often designed "from a uniform perspective," which does not always take into account the uniqueness of the collaborative and participatory model of educational cooperatives.

"We are cautiously optimistic," says José R. Bertolín of Creixen Educació. For him, the cooperative model has amply demonstrated its strength, especially in times of uncertainty or volatility. "Perhaps precisely because it is a shared, participatory, and participatory model, in which the common good is always the starting point," he reflects. This approach, he asserts, provides cooperative schools with added value to address major collective challenges. "We believe that the cooperative approach is, today, essential to responding to the challenges of 21st-century society," he concludes.