While co-operative schools are different, there are different kinds of different schools. This essay
examines the type of alternative co-operative schools are, using distinctions Philip A. Woods draws
from Maori philosophy of education. While some may believe that co-operative schools are a
challenge alternative — rather than a choice or assimilation alternative — because they promote
co-operative values, I disagree. Given the structural link between schools and economy, the way we
should determine whether co-operative schools are a challenge alternative to dominant mainstream
schooling is by looking to the size and strength of the co-operative economy. Using the educational
genesis of the Mondragon co-operatives as a paradigm case, and social reproduction theory as a lens,
it is clear that the purpose of co-operative schools was and is to strengthen the co-operative economy.
The co-operative economy right now is drastically smaller and weaker than the capitalist economy in
England, and the number of co-operative schools emerging does not mean they are emerging as a
challenge alternative to dominant schooling.