Derbyshire County Council

Children and Younger Adults Department

Jennifer Joy-Matthews &

Vikki Trace0241, Appreciative

Development Communities in Adult Community Education

Derbyshire Adult Community Education

Service (DACES)

Derbyshire County Council

Children and Younger Adults Department

Context• Largest provider of part-time

adult learning within Derbyshire

• Large rural county• 23 main centres – 150+

outreach venues• 500+ tutors• 3,000 courses & 30,000

enrolments including Family and Foundation Learning

• Undergoing major re-structuring

Derbyshire County Council

Children and Younger Adults Department

What we did

• Applied for funding & more funding!

• Ran Supported Experiments

• Learnt Lots!• Evaluated the Results• Learnt even more!• Developed Theory• Disseminated Ideas

Derbyshire County Council

Children and Younger Adults Department

Research Process

PlanningMarketingBriefingRunning the Experiments with SupportEvaluating the ExperimentEvaluating effect on the serviceSensemaking in relation to theory

Derbyshire County Council

Children and Younger Adults Department

Sensemaking

When an organisation is undergoing a major change there is a tendency for negativity to creep in!So we focussed on the positive approach of David Cooperrider’s Appreciative Inquiry to harness the good work that was being undertaken.

Derbyshire County Council

Children and Younger Adults Department

Existing Theories

• Supported Experiments

• Joint Practice Development

• Communities of Practice

• Appreciative Inquiry

Derbyshire County Council

Children and Younger Adults Department

Theory Development

Derbyshire County Council

Children and Younger Adults Department

Appreciative Development Communities

Appreciative

Beneficial

Communities of

Development

Derbyshire County Council

Children and Younger Adults Department

Credits• LSIS / IfL • Suncett• Daces Staff and

Learners• ALT (Kampa Pucha!)• If you enjoyed and

learnt please vote for us!!

jennifer.joy-matthews@derbyshire.gov.uk