Bhutan aspires to build a compassionate society to realise the vision of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which is the country's development philosophy. A nationwide reform initiative called Educating for Gross National Happiness (EGNH) was launched in 2009 by the Ministry of Education to fulfil the national aspiration of creating a GNH society. More importantly, the national intention of implementing EGNH in all schools in Bhutan was to infuse GNH principles and values, including compassion, to ultimately develop responsible, thoughtful citizens with GNH values, skills and knowledge.

This study postulates that compassion is a domain of teachers' knowledge, and the study therefore aims to define and capture the dimensions of that knowledge domain by investigating primary teachers' perspectives and practices of compassion when teaching science in the Bhutanese classroom.

To define the dimensions of compassion knowledge, this study employs the three lenses postulated by Adoniou (2015): the "knowing what", "knowing how", and "knowing why" (p.103). The research employed a mixed method explanatory sequential design that consisted of two distinct phases: survey data collection and analysis followed by semistructured interview data collection and analysis. The first phase employed a 52-item survey that gathered data from 201 teachers of science in Bhutan primary schools.

To facilitate the analysis, the survey items are grouped into four constructs: Origin of Compassion, Compassionate Relationships (Teacher-Student), Compassionate Acts (With Students) and Self-Compassion. The survey response data are analysed using the partial credit form of the Rasch model to establish the construct validity of all four constructs. A good fit of the data to the model is found" therefore, all constructs have excellent construct validity. The case estimates from the Rasch analysis are used for subsequent correlation, regression and MANOVA analysis by employing Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The MANOVA analysis shows that differences in age, gender, teaching experience and school location do not significantly differentiate the perspectives and practices of the Bhutanese primary science teachers with respect to the four constructs of compassion.

The study's second phase entails semi-structured interviews with 10 survey participants to elicit in-depth contextual information for the responses to the survey and further insights into the perspectives, understandings and compassionate practices in the classroom. These interview data are manually analysed for themes. The findings show that Bhutanese primary science teachers acknowledge compassion as a fundamental value that is deeply rooted in Bhutanese society. The teachers defined compassion as recognising students' suffering and acting with genuineness to relieve that suffering. Family, teachers, schools and the community play a significant role in making Bhutanese teachers compassionate. The findings also indicate that compassion is considered fundamental in science teaching for reasons such as role modelling compassion to students and developing connections and positive relationships between teacher and student by creating a responsive, inclusive classroom environment that supports diverse student needs. The study reveals that teachers enact compassion in the classroom through compassionate listening, empathy, compassionate speech and co-creating classroom rules and regulations to build a compassionate classroom culture. The study also establishes that compassion and self compassion are central to improving primary science teachers' psychological wellbeing by reducing stress and fostering a positive mindset.

Furthermore, the research aims to identify the facilitators and challenges that impact on teachers' compassionate practice. The findings indicate that the schools in Bhutan have an inbuilt system that facilitates the promotion and engagement of compassion in teachers and students through compassionate acts like meditation programs, values education, religious discourse (Buddhist teaching) etc. While some facilitators help to promote compassion in teachers, the findings also indicate that teachers have challenges to their practise of compassion, including the inability to engage in compassionate acts consistently, overcrowded classrooms and high teaching workloads. The misconception of compassion being a weak trait is another major challenge explored in this study

Overall, the findings of this study demonstrate that the newly proposed teachers' knowledge domain, 'compassion knowledge', can be articulated and portrayed based on the experiences of primary Bhutanese teachers. The identification of compassion as a separate domain of knowledge is used to create a modified reconceptualised consensus model (RCM) of PCK called compassionate pedagogical content knowledge (CoPCK). This proposed model emphasises the place and impact of compassion as a separate domain of teachers' knowledge and has implications for teacher education research, both formally and informally.

The findings from this study add to the growing literature on the role of compassion in education and how it can be understood, practised and taught. Furthermore, they contribute to the body of knowledge that recognises compassionate teaching as an essential domain of teachers' knowledge. This advance can play an important role in the infusion and promotion of GNH in schools, with particular significance for Bhutan and other contexts of teacher education and teacher practice. Recommendations for further research are suggested to test this CoPCK model, both on a national and international scale, for validation and applicability to different subject areas and in diverse cultural contexts.

This thesis reports the findings of a textography undertaken to inform the teaching of English writing in a tertiary college in Oman. Textography was selected as the methodological approach because it provides a framework for integrating discourse analysis and ethnographic techniques in order to examine how and why texts written by students in this setting make the meanings they do. The framework included a World Englishes approach, which examines how English is used differently to meet the different needs of users across the globe, categorised according to whether they are Inner Circle, Outer Circle or Expanding Circle users of English. The underpinning theory chosen for text analysis was systemic functional linguistics, as it provides the tools for theorising the relationships between texts and contexts. The texts examined were authentic samples of student assessment writing. These were contextualised with reference to teacher interviews, college and Oman Ministry of Education documents as well as researcher observations recorded in notes and pictures.

The study demonstrated that textography was an approach particularly well-suited to the requirements of teacher researchers working in Gulf Cooperation Council countries such as Oman where English is used as a medium of instruction in tertiary institutions. A model was developed for use by teachers to manage analysis of the range of data they can collect in a textography. The findings bring into question the delivery of "contentless" English for academic purposes programs in English-medium instruction contexts and suggest that closer cooperation between English Departments and departments teaching other disciplines is required to align the types of texts students are taught in the English Program with those they will be required to engage with in their discipline studies.

A further finding is that contrary to many reports in the literature, the students in this study appeared to be supported by their Arabic literacy skills and were able to transfer these effectively to English writing. Those teachers who had Arabic language skills also used them to good effect in their teaching with no apparent negative effect on the English language learning of their students. As a result, one of the recommendations expressed in this thesis is that translanguaging should be leveraged in English-medium instruction environments and that further research should be conducted into supporting the use of translanguaging by students and teachers. It is hoped that this insight will contribute to the research field of student academic writing genres in tertiary contexts where English is used as a medium of instruction.

This research project deals with the important topic of palliative care services in regional New South Wales (NSW), Australia. There is an increasing emphasis on meeting the healthcare needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Australia. Negotiating the point of culturally appropriate care and the transition to palliative care requires effective communication and sensitivity to socio-cultural, religious, spiritual and linguistic needs. This can be a challenging process for clinicians, patients, and families.

Employing Leininger’s Trans-Cultural Theory, Engel’s biopsychosocial model and Fricker’s concept of “epistemic injustice” in context with healthcare for marginalised migrant groups, this exploratory empirical case study was undertaken in three towns of the Riverina region of NSW (Wagga Wagga, Griffith, and Albury). A burgeoning population group of Punjabi Indians residing in the Riverina region was chosen for this study. Group interviews were conducted with six locally based Punjabi Indian families that had experienced care services at their local residential aged care services. To complement and provide a more comprehensive picture, group interviews were also conducted with care staff (nurses and personal care assistants) of residential aged care facilities (RACFs) in the same towns.

In line with the exploratory nature of this research, a qualitative approach was adopted utilising an interpretive phenomenological methodology in the design, implementation and presentation of findings of the research. The informants in the research were selected through a non-random, purposeful selection process. Thematic analysis was used to determine the major findings of this study.

The study identified barriers to appropriate and equitable palliative care and services for regionally based Punjabi Indians, with important implications for the wider CALD population. The study argues that the dominant medical knowledge base in context to palliative care services does not adequately account for experiences of the CALD population. To build a stronger foundation for the quality of culturally appropriate care, the palliative care sector must undertake fundamental change. Central to this reenvisioned approach is respect for cultural and religious practices that one is required to follow at end of life. The study proposes strategies to strengthen palliative care delivery models in regional areas of NSW by providing insight from consumers’ and care providers’ perspectives on processes that continue to be recommended in state and national policies as best-practice palliative care for people from diverse backgrounds. The study recommends a human rights framework where stronger ethics of care and cultural respect is demonstrated through the palliative care service delivery model.

This study explored the spoken English language experience of Iraqi postgraduate students at two Australian regional universities. Specifically, it investigated the spoken English language demands placed on postgraduate students during their candidature and the resulting difficulties. Spoken English demands and difficulties were investigated generally, and with a particular focus on the use of spoken academic registers. The research employed a multilayered theoretical framework informed by positivist and interpretivist paradigms and carried out analysis using systemic functional linguistics (SFL). Accordingly, a multi-methods approach was implemented, eliciting both quantitative and qualitative data using the instruments of survey, participant interviews and supervision interviews. Quantitative data was analysed using a positivist paradigm; whilst the interpretivist paradigm and SFL were used in analysis and interpretation of qualitative data. The study’s analyses revealed that the demands and difficulties candidates faced during their postgraduate programs were great, including at the level of academic register. High demands and many difficulties were unsurprising given the reported inadequate English proficiency at the outset of degrees. Inadequate English proficiency was determined to be a result of poor prior learning experiences in Iraq, as well as cultural differences. The results of this study could inform university faculties and their language institutions, impacting the design of English language programs and the education of supervising staff of postgraduate students. They could also inform the Ministry of Education in Iraq, as well as those of other countries, of the need for a robust English language curriculum review or design at all levels of education to meet international education requirements of English as a global language.

Hazaras, a persecuted minority from Afghanistan, number among those seeking asylum in Australia since 1999. Australia’s national histories and its debate over boat arrivals often exclude refugee voices. This thesis makes a significant contribution to knowledge by using oral history to record, present and analyse experiences of loss and hope among Hazara refugees through six in-depth case studies. Exploring the content and subjectivity of their narratives, it shows that Hazaras are fulfilling hopes and building successful lives within Australia when given the opportunity, but the legacy of persecution, loss, trauma, family separations and uncertainty can create prolonged crises or haunt them for decades.

The thesis also builds methodological knowledge by sharing my process of becoming more adaptive when interviewing within cross-cultural and crisis settings. It demonstrates that deep connection to the narrator, recognition of the multiple ways in which they recount, and empathetic imagining of their experiences, alongside the interviewer’s own self-reflection, are key elements of gathering stories of trauma and bereavement. Being flexible during the fieldwork, yielding to the narrator’s cultural mores as needed, and being sensitive to their personal circumstances enable meaningful insights to be gleaned and ethical care to be upheld. Through this evolving practice, the voices of marginalised Hazaras have been recognised and amplified, enabling their memories to help shape, enrich, or unsettle Australia’s recent refugee historiography.

The changing nature of Australia’s population has resulted in increased linguistic intermarriage over the last few decades. This case study investigates heritage language (HL) maintenance within linguistic intermarriage families, where one parent is an immigrant with a heritage language (HL) as their first language, and the other is of Anglo Australian origin and/or a speaker of English as a first language. It reports on the use of HLs in regional Australia at home and in school, in particular in Languages classrooms. It also reports on how parents, children and teachers of Languages experience plurilingualism for themselves as well as within their families and in educational settings. In addition, it examines plurilingual children’s perspectives of their HL ability and use, as well as their perceived identities as plurilinguals. Collating parents’, children’s and Languages teachers’ perspectives on HL transmission and maintenance at home and in schools reveals multiple perspectives on plurilingualism in regional Australia.

An interpretivist approach was adopted for this study in recognition of multiple linguistic and cultural realities that the research participants are likely to represent. The interpretivist research paradigm assumes that reality is constructed through socially developed meanings and experiences, and that multiple realities exist. The methodological approach, in the form of a qualitative case study, is based on the principles of suitability in relation to the potential of the embedded single case study and the value of the method in educational research. The language acquisition and maintenance theories, discussed in the literature and the proposed research questions, produced themes to help understand HL use and maintenance, the ecologies of the plurilingual families and reasons for sharing and maintaining HLs. The key ideas from these theories, for example Fishman’s reversing language shift and Cummins’ BICS and CALP models, accommodate different views of plurilingualism, language learning and language maintenance. Four central themes emerged from the literature and data as organising principles for analysis: reasons and motivations for heritage language maintenance as perceived by the participants, family language practices, Languages in education and language repertoire. These themes, like the embedded units/groups, are permeable throughout the study to allow a holistic view on the plurilingual experiences of all participants and across different contexts and of all participants.

Online questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used with all participant groups to understand plurilingual experiences at home and in school. The findings identified that the maintenance of HLs in regional Australia is largely limited to the home domain. Parents perceive the development and maintenance of HLs as their responsibility but acknowledged that potential input from educational settings could be beneficial for HL maintenance. Parental, as well as child participants’ reasons for HL maintenance concentrate on communication between family members, identity building, academic and cognitive benefits, and various social and life choices. Children experience their plurilingualism as an advantage in different contexts and generally feel well supported despite the remote location and lack of large language communities. The findings further identified that there is tension between Languages teachers’ approaches towards plurilingual students in their classrooms and the plurilingual orientation recommended in the Australian Curriculum: Languages.

The application of the three perspectives on plurilingualism in regional Australia revealed a gap in relation to language development and maintenance between the two sets of participants, namely teachers of Languages and schools and members of multilingual families. The findings encourage the promotion of plurilingualism as part of the Languages teacher’s role; it is recommended that this is initiated in professional learning and development for teachers of Languages to support linguistic intermarriage families in regional Australia.

This thesis explores perceived long-term influences of in-country language (ICL) study abroad programs. It examines two long-running ICL programs conducted in regional Australia between 1995 and 2015 at high school and university levels. Perceptions of their long-term influences are explored through thematic analysis and complexity theory. The resulting themes relate to language learning, intercultural development and personal growth in individuals, and broader influences on families, institutions and communities.

Complexity theory provides a metatheoretical framework for understanding the elements, processes and agents involved in ICL programs at micro, meso and macro levels, and the changing influences of these experiences over time. Using a ‘complexity lens’ highlights the heterogeneity, dynamism, nonlinearity and emergence which characterise ICL programsystems, and allows the close study of both individual program iterations and general patterns of language study abroad.

The investigation presents a retrospective multiple case study from the perspectives of those involved, including students, host family members, teachers, administrative staff and institutional leaders. Through reflexive thematic analysis, qualitative data drawn from 86 surveys and 42 follow-up semi-structured interviews are used to develop the three themes which constitute the study’s research narrative. Within the themes, relationships are explored between a) goals and perceptions of program effectiveness, b) target language development and language use in immersive learning contexts, and c) in-country language-learning experiences, and personal and intercultural development. The study also examines the way participants perceived the influence of the ICL programs as extending beyond the temporal boundaries of the experience itself and beyond individual students to potentially affect the larger system.

The study shows that both the high school and university in-country language programs examined were perceived to have the potential to influence long-term target language learning, intercultural understanding and personal development in individuals, families, institutions and communities. Perceived national and international benefits related to multiculturalism, economic prosperity, globalisation and diplomacy. Arising from the application of a complexity understanding to the analysis, the study offers recommendations for the development of ICL programs. These recommendations are intended to harness the potential of in-country language-learning experiences and maximise benefit for those directly involved and for the communities in which the programs are enacted.

Education leadership research over many years has demonstrated that the principal's relationship with teachers and their approach to leading change in schools has a direct impact on the success or otherwise of that change. This longitudinal six-year case study explored principal leadership and the experiences of teachers at one primary school in regional NSW Australia as the school moved through a series of changes to leadership and teaching practices. This research examined the actions taken by each principal in three consecutive eras of change and the changes that were enacted across the three eras.

This research explored and utilised prominent theory on educational leadership styles in conjunction with a series of key drivers for successful change leadership. Thus, three principals' leadership styles and actions were examined against a range of educational leadership theories. Six key change drivers were distilled from the large body of research on successful change in schools to explore each principal's approach to leading change" these were Shared Vision and Moral Purpose, Trust and Authentic Communication, Knowledge and Data Driven Change, Capacity Building, Collaboration and Professional Learning Communities, Creating a Positive School Culture and Celebrating Success, and Connections to Parents and Community.

Findings. Across all three principal eras, the common and dominant theme has been the power of embedded, collaborative professional learning to transform teacher practice and teacher beliefs about their teaching. The lesson for successful change leadership that emerged across all three principal eras at this school has been change from within, signifying that successful change is context dependent or built-in, not bolted on. The leadership across the three eras was found to consistently utilise the key change leadership drivers. Additionally, these were effectively integrated with the embedding of professional learning and evidence-based change to create sustained and successful improvement within the school over six years and beyond. Through this research and its findings, it has become clear that the principal has been the true genesis of successful change within this particular school environment. In addition, the importance of how the principal leads and sustains the change agenda over time through their choice of key leadership drivers and actions has been highlighted. Over the three eras of the research, it was found that teacher's trust in their leadership persisted, an unusual and significant finding and testament to the leadership, staff and the positive school culture being carefully preserved across eras.

This research has potential implications for future school-based change initiatives in terms of increasing understanding of leadership for change and teachers' acceptance of change. There are additional implications for the creation of permanent school-based, embedded instructional leader positions as facilitators of successful data driven change to teaching practice. This research also adds to the leading change literature by revealing the 'real-life' approach taken by school leaders to bring teaching staff along on the journey. The limitations of this research are the single school research context and the size and location of the school as being small and rural, somewhat limiting the transferability of the research findings to larger urban school contexts.

This thesis emerges from a study that explored both the difficulties faced by Sri Lankan university students who are learning English as a second language (ESL) and the pedagogical strategies practised by ESL teachers to minimise these difficulties. Sri Lankan university students require high levels of English language proficiency to succeed academically and to succeed professionally after graduation; however, for many of these students, developing this proficiency has proven to be very challenging. The main aim of the study was to investigate the causes of the difficulties faced by Sri Lankan university students learning English. The investigation was undertaken through the lens of a conceptual framework that was designed to align English language learning difficulties with pedagogical solutions. The framework was developed by drawing on critical approaches to pedagogy, post method pedagogy and a sociocultural theory of learning following Vygotsky.

Using a qualitative multiple case study methodology, first and second year students and their teachers at three Sri Lankan universities were interviewed and observed in class. The data collected were analysed thematically. ESL learning difficulties reported by the students and teachers were categorised according to whether they relate to sociocultural or institutional barriers or to language learning difficulties. Strategies used by the ESL teachers were analysed using the KARDS framework (Kumaravadivelu, 2012).

The sociocultural barriers to students successfully learning English that were revealed by the study were the family environment, their earlier English education and the university subculture. The institutional barriers identified were crowded and mixed ability ESL classes, limited time and resources allocated to ESL lectures, poor quality and outdated teaching content, materials and teaching styles, a high academic workload and students' limited to English outside the classroom. Language learning difficulties arose because of students' low level of English proficiency, lack of engagement and participation in classroom interaction and limited commitment to English skills development. A major barrier was the mismatch between the English that students needed to learn and the English offered in the university ESL programs. Strategies used by the university ESL teachers to assist students were bringing the local context into their teaching, using the Sinhala language, encouraging classroom interaction and learner autonomy, building motivation and positive teacher±learner relationships and differentiating instruction according to proficiency level and target skills. Despite teachers using these strategies, students reported being dissatisfied with the ESL programs. The recommendation emerging from the study is for universities in Sri Lanka to develop ESL pedagogies that are specific to the Sri Lankan university context and responsive to the needs of Sri Lankan students.