The co-operative way

Olia | Sep 06, 2026Sep 03, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• discuss different management and decision-making styles;
• watch a video about co-operative businesses;
• review vocabulary related to business structure and strategy.

In this lesson, students discuss company decision-making and review vocabulary connected to business structure and strategy. They watch a video about co-operative businesses, learning how they’re owned and run, and discuss real-life examples of co-ops from around the world. Students also evaluate whether turning different businesses into co-ops would make them successful and correct vocabulary mistakes in sentences about workplace culture.

WARM-UP AND VOCABULARY

This lesson starts with a warm-up in which students discuss situations where employees might disagree with a CEO’s decision. Afterwards, they complete phrases in bold with the correct words, reviewing vocabulary (e.g. bottom-up decision-making, top-down management, consensus-based approach). Students also say whether any of these describe a company they’ve worked for.

CO-OPS AND DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students choose which definition of a co-operative they think is correct, then watch the first part of a video to check their answer. They watch the second part and tick which statements about co-operative businesses are true according to the video. Then, students revisit the vocabulary from earlier in the lesson to say which phrases describe co-ops and consider the disadvantages of each approach. Students then say whether they agree or disagree with statements about co-ops and brainstorm what might motivate people to set up different types. Moving on, they read about three real-life co-ops in Canada and discuss questions about ownership, benefits and risks for each. Finally, students read about three businesses considering becoming co-ops and, using vocabulary from the lesson, decide whether this would make them successful.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students correct eight vocabulary mistakes in sentences about workplace culture. Then, they choose which scenario in each pair they’d prefer and explain why. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it, cut it up and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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