The influence of postgraduate study experience in Australia on the professional and personal lives of returning faculty members in the two colleges of education in Bhutan

Abstract

<p>This study explored the influence of the postgraduate study experience in Australia on the professional and personal lives of returning faculty members in the two colleges of education in Bhutan. Education has been the central pillar of friendship and cooperation between Australia and Bhutan for more than five decades, and many Bhutanese education faculty members have travelled to Australia to study. They returned to their country to contribute to the development of the education system. How the returning faculty members contributed in terms of professional practice was explored using a primary research question: How has the Australian postgraduate educational experience influenced the professional practice of faculty members working in the two colleges of education in Bhutan?</p> <p>In most cases, the faculty members were accompanied by their family members to Australia" hence, the study also explored to understand how the faculty members and their families coped with challenges while studying, and how their enhanced capability and transformations impacted on their personal and professional lives and contributed to human capital in Bhutan. Thus, the researcher explored the secondary question: How did the Australian experience of the faculty members and their families influenced them personally?</p> <p>This case study conducted two stages of data collection and employed qualitative methods. An online open-ended questionnaire was responded to by 25 participants and the subsequent face to face semi-structured interviews were carried out with 12 participants. The online questionnaire responses and interview data were analysed using both manual coding and Leximancer text-mining software. </p> <p>The first part of the findings from the manual thematic and Leximancer analysis identified <i>teacher education, research</i>, and <i>leadership</i> as the three most dominant themes relevant to professional lives. In response to the second research question about personal lives, the study revealed that the faculty members and their families faced challenges of <i>coping with language, culture, technology demands, time management, financial issues</i>, and <i>study</i>. Faculty members' frames of reference for the views that they had prior to going for study abroad changed as they gradually became immersed in the new culture. These personal transformations as a result of challenging experiences allowed the faculty members to integrate personal and professional development, and consequently, the faculty members were able to bring new dimensions to their professional practice upon return to their respective colleges of education. The study has also shown that the Australian postgraduate study abroad experiences have had profound influences not only on the individual faculty members and their families, but also on their workplaces and on the wider university and education system in Bhutan.</p> <p>The implications of this study are to do with the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) curriculum, Royal University of Bhutan human resource rules and regulations pertaining to promotion, Ministry of Education and schools in Bhutan support in learning Dzongkha for returning school students, the support of higher education institutions in Australia for international students including Bhutanese, and Australian (federal and state) immigration policies, regulations, and incentives for international students. For these faculty members, Australia should be considered a preferred destination for higher education.</p>