Educating for the Cooperative Society

Abstract

The concept of citizenship needs to be redefined in the twenty-first century to emphasize the notion of cooperation amongst individuals, as the institutional action that often results can have a crucial importance in politics, the economy, and culture, at the local, regional, global, and individual levels. This requires the shaping of new societal consciousness. Education, especially higher education, has to assume major responsibility in this process, as it has done historically. This may well entail a revised concept of citizenship—not only through curricular changes but also through institutional practices. Responsible citizens should act in coordination with each other following the new requirements of a modern knowledge-based society reacting to global challenges. This is in line with another mission of the university—that of public good—providing individuals with access to knowledge so that citizens develop professionally, acquire new skills, and become competitive in local and global labour markets. In a century of transformational global change, it is now more than ever the mission of higher education institutions to cultivate citizens capable of tackling local and global challenges in an innovative but also cooperative manner.