Compassion as a Domain of Teachers' Knowledge: Perceptions and Practices of Bhutanese Primary Science Teachers

Abstract

<p>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.</p> <p>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. </p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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. </p> <p>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</p> <p>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 <i>compassionate pedagogical content knowledge (CoPCK)</i>. 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.</p> <p>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. </p>