Abstract:
This paper reports on research exploring the adaptiveness of providers within the
NSW Adult and Community Education (ACE) sector. It examines how a number of
ACE centres understand and apply adaptiveness and considers the contexts that they
operate within. The research, sponsored by the NSW Board of ACE, sought to
identify how ACE centres adapt in the context of substantial changes in their
operating environment over recent years.
The literature on adaptiveness is replete with overlapping and interacting terminology
such as ambidexterity, agility, learning-centred, generativity, resilience, and
sustainability, to describe an organisation’s responses. The different ways
organisations respond to change can be seen as falling within one of five approaches -
co-ordinated, planned change; reactive change; disaster recovery; pre-emptive
response to a changing environment; and sustainability over time.
How then might we understand the concept and practice of adaptiveness as it applies
to ACE providers, especially given the often competing expectations placed on
centres by their clients and their funding providers? The researchers developed a
model of distinct but overlapping factors - Knowledge, Culture, Strategy and
Resources - and conducted interviews with a selection of ACE leaders and community
stakeholders. Drawing on this framework the paper outlines ways the providers are
adapting within the constraints of current funding arrangements.
