Unsettling Cooperative Education: Decolonial Directions

Abstract

How does decolonization inform co-operative education (co-op)? This question raises complex issues for educators and institutions, especially considering how decolonization is an unsettling journey (Regan, 2010) that involves critical reflexive change. Facing increasing pressures to support 21st century skills and career development—pressures that often mirror neoliberal socio-economic priorities of efficiency, growth, instrumentality, and productivity—it can be hard to know where to begin engaging decolonization in co-op.   

This article explores theoretical discussions for how “decolonial praxis” (Gahman & Legault, 2019) can inform an approach to co-op that equips students to engage their integrative career development in holistic and responsible ways. Drawing from the work of curriculum theorist Dwayne Donald (2022), I will suggest that an important starting point involves practices of unlearning and relationality within co-op curriculum and programming. Practices of unlearning involve examining assumptions in co-op and assessing areas for change (e.g. values of neoliberal capitalism). Practices of relationality emphasize ways co-op can support student growth and responsibility within their own workplaces and communities. I conclude with a brief case study discussing how these directions have informed decolonial directions in unsettling co-op at the University of the Fraser Valley (Abbotsford, British Columbia).