Co-op College History - Centre for the Study of Co-operatives

More documents

Recommendations

Info

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS T HE AUTHOR WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS SPECIAL APPRECIATION for the work of the Research Advisory Committee—Harold Baker, Harold Chapman, Skip Kutz, Eric Rasmussen, Leona Theis, and Ole Turnbull—who provided helpful observations and valuable historical details about the Co-op College. Thank you also to Brett Fairbairn for clarity and insight throughout the entire project.
I NTRODUCTION HE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN POSTWAR WESTERN CANADA T was in the midst of rapid expansion, with significant growth in the number of credit unions, agricultural marketing co-ops, and particularly retail co-ops. While this direction offered prosperity and growth, there were other implications that slowly began to take shape throughout the western provinces. Maintaining a successful business practice gradually took precedence over the preservation of co-operative ideology, and co-op leaders realized that although an economically successful co-operative retailing system was beginning to develop, a thorough understanding of co-op philosophy had diminished. The type of co-op education that had blossomed in rural areas during the 1930s and 1940s was fuelled by a common purpose and a sense of collective action. This was manifested in educational conferences, study groups, newsletters, the Wheat Pool field representatives, and the dedication of individual leaders. Co-op education involved people teaching and working together to discuss and act on social and economic issues. It was essential to sustaining the movement. 1 By the 1950s, rural depopulation in Saskatchewan was fracturing communities that once fostered relationships to work towards a common goal. It became clear to many co-op leaders that co-operative education was needed to rejuvenate co-op values in the growing numbers of employees, elected officials, members, and especially in the younger generation, who held the greatest influence over the future of the movement. In southern Manitoba, a progressive group of co-op farmers and educators first met in 1953 to develop a plan for an International Co-operative Institute. This idea was brought to Saskatchewan in 1955 through the creation of Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), an interprovincial co-operative joining Manitoba and Saskatchewan consumers. FCL and the Cooperative Union of Saskatchewan were willing supporters. A co-op education centre would solve the need for employee and director training, while devoting a part of the curriculum to teaching co-op principles. To teach these principles effectively required a comprehensive un- O CCASIONAL P APERS S ERIES #01–01
Page 1: “AN E DUCATIONAL I NSTITUTE OF U
Page 4 and 5: Copyright © 2001 Centre for the St
Page 6 and 7: THE CO-OPERATIVE COLLEGE OF CANADA
Page 10 and 11: 2 C REWE derstanding and applicatio
Page 12 and 13: 4 C REWE Saskatchewan Federated Co-
Page 14 and 15: 6 C REWE P HILOSOPHICAL B ELIEF AND
Page 16 and 17: 8 C REWE Matchett, manager of Eaton
Page 18 and 19: 10 CREWE ety of speakers from the l
Page 20 and 21: 12 CREWE A PERMANENT L OCATION The
Page 22 and 23: 14 CREWE 27-28 March 1961. Held at
Page 24 and 25: 16 CREWE the direct result of the c
Page 26 and 27: 18 CREWE The staff worked in conjun
Page 28 and 29: 20 CREWE On 2 November 1968, the co
Page 30 and 31: 22 CREWE courses was in 1972 at a t
Page 32 and 33: 24 CREWE following decade at the co
Page 34 and 35: 26 CREWE Co-operation and Community
Page 36 and 37: 28 CREWE In the early 1980s, in res
Page 38 and 39: C ONCLUSION HE CO-OP COLLEGE WAS DI
Page 40 and 41: 32 CREWE while business is practica
Page 42 and 43: A PPENDIX II L IST OF D IRECTORS, M
Page 44 and 45: 36 CREWE Saskatchewan Co-operative
Page 46 and 47: 38 CREWE 1981-82 BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Page 48 and 49: 40 CREWE Credit Union Central of Ne
Page 50 and 51: A PPENDIX IV E NROLMENT P ATTERNS A
Page 52 and 53: 44 CREWE E DITOR’ S N OTES Of the
Page 54 and 55: 46 CREWE The following graph repres
Page 56 and 57: 48 CREWE 12. “Problems of co-op e
Page 58 and 59:
50 CREWE 55. “Chapman to Guyana t
Page 60 and 61:
52 CREWE 94. Ole Turnbull in conver
Page 62 and 63:
54 CREWE Royal Commission on Agricu
Page 64 and 65:
56 LIST OF P UBLICATIONS 89.01 Patr
show all

Co-op College History - Centre for the Study of Co-operatives

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?