Facilitators and Constraints of Compassion in Bhutanese Primary Science Teaching

Limited empirical research has examined how compassion is institutionally supported or constrained within specific practical contexts, and what this means for teacher education. This study investigates primary science teachers’ perceptions of the facilitators and barriers to enacting compassion in Bhutan, a context in which educational policy is shaped by Gross National Happiness values and Buddhist-informed moral education. Findings from analysis of survey and interview data indicate that compassion is significantly enabled by school-based systems as well as by compassionate school leadership. At the same time, teachers identify persistent challenges, including workload pressures, large class sizes, misconceptions equating compassion with leniency, and the relational implications of digital immersion. Interpreted through a teacher education lens, these findings suggest that compassion must be conceptualised as a learnable professional competence requiring explicit preparation, leadership development, and sustained professional learning.