What role do high schools have
in advancing economic democracy?
“Who will develop these new paradigms and a new economic ideology? Who will mentor students to become paradigm changers and scholar activists? How will they learn about and understand the attempts in the past, the past models of success, and the lessons from the failures? We are not training our youth to think creatively or to think out of the traditional economic.”
Building a new kind of economy where vast inequalities are eliminated and greatly shared wealth and control are widespread and commonplace in our communities will require an education system that equips and trains for deeper and more widespread democratic and and economic management, from Pre-Ks to MBAs.
While economic development often focuses on the role of undergraduate and post-graduate credentials, educational systems and practices from successful regional cooperative economies with much lower rates of economic and social inequalities suggest that it is also important to integrate training and preparation for economic democracy “upstream” into primary and secondary education.
Building an educational pathway for economic democracy from primary through post-secondary education will take deep partnership between community, youth, educators, and researchers. Where does such a process begin?
In 2022 we are taking a deeper dive with a select group of high schools to better answer this question for the Bronx, New York City, and any community seeking to deeply embed principles and practices of cooperation and shared power in their local and regional economy. Click here to read more.
Click here to see more background on this fellowship program.
Click here to watch a recording from our November 2021 Zoom info session.
