Designed to provide a two-year core curriculum for general cooperative programs on the secondary level, this manual contains guidelines for instruction in cooperative education which can also be applied to cooperative programs in specialized areas such as business, home economics, agriculture, and distributive education. While the format is primarily intended for group instruction, it can be adapted to an individualized approach. Eleven areas of instruction are included as follow: (1) orientation; (2) health and safety; (3) human relations; (4) communications; (5) managing resources; (6) legal aspects of employment; (7) labor unions; (8) economics; (9) career planning; (10) preemployment, such as job applications and interviews; and (11) basic skills such as arithmetic, vocabulary development, and library use. Each section is divided into one or more units which generally follow the same organization: objectives stated as desired student competencies; suggested activities; transparency masters; information sheets and student copies of transparencies; assignment sheets; tests; and answers to tests and assignments. The introduction provides an extensive list of suggested teaching methods to vary classroom instruction and keep the student's attention. (ELG)