Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemYoga Pathways to Wellbeing: Exploring Conceptualisations, Profiles and Mechanisms in Regular Ashtanga Yoga Practitioners( 2023-05)Yoga is an embodied practice founded in philosophical frameworks intended for the evolution of different dimensions of human existence and optimal functioning. With a solid body of research demonstrating its positive impact on health and wellbeing, recent studies mostly using quantitative methods have shifted their focus to understand practitioners’ characteristics and the mechanisms yielding positive benefits. This thesis adds to these studies by exploring the pathways of yoga towards wellbeing by understanding how an international sample of regular practitioners within the Ashtanga Yoga (AY) tradition conceptualise wellbeing and yoga, examining differences and similarities in their wellbeing and yoga profiles, and understanding the mechanisms of yoga from their lived experience of a developing a long-term practice. Guided by a social constructivist epistemology and interweaving Reflexive Thematic Analysis and Cluster Analysis, this predominately qualitative mixed-methods research comprises five studies using data from an online survey and semi-structured interviews to gain in-depth analysis of yoga, wellbeing, and their inter-relationships. While the first three studies were designed to understand how regular AY practitioners conceptualised wellbeing and yoga, the two subsequent studies focused on understanding the characteristics of practitioners and the pathways that their yoga practice paved towards wellbeing. Wellbeing was conceptualised as embodied, multidimensional, integrated, holistic, and dynamic, being experienced and perceived by the self as a whole. Wellbeing outcomes experienced in one dimension of the individual (i.e., physical, emotional, psychological, social, spiritual) were seen as permeating into other dimensions and in dynamic interaction with one another. Yoga was conceptualised as an evolving system interweaving philosophical and practical components, and in close relation to health and wellbeing. Yoga was represented as a formal practice, as a lifestyle and a way of seeing the world, which could be further used as a path for self-inquiry and for spiritual development. The pathways of yoga towards wellbeing were varied across regular AY practitioners. While practitioners shared some common characteristics, including high levels of perceived health and wellbeing, mindfulness, compassion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness, they also varied in their engagement with the AY practice. The pathways towards wellbeing involved different levels of engagement with different components of the AY system (e.g., breathing, philosophical framework), in addition to experiencing increased autonomy and awareness through the AY method (i.e., way of teaching/learning), and the integration of mechanisms across neurophysiological, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal domains. These findings suggest that AY can cater to different individuals, providing autonomy in ways of engaging with the practice over time, activating various pathways leading to wellbeing outcomes involving neurophysiological, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal elements and processes. Two conceptual models emerged from this thesis: a conceptual model of human functioning and wellbeing, and a conceptual model of the pathways of AY towards wellbeing. Together, these models articulate how a regular yoga practice can permeate into every dimension of human existence, yielding wellbeing benefits within the self and in relation to others. The ability to navigate through different levels of individual functioning, (i.e., from coping, to personal growth, to transcendence) in an embodied and regulated manner can ultimately translate into a sense of integrated self, which is attuned to oneself, to others, and to the world around them. Overall, the thesis underscores the relevance of incorporating an embodied, holistic, transdisciplinary, and systems lens into wellbeing research, theory, and practice, as well as moving from purely cognitive wellbeing interventions to embodied and holistic ongoing practices and lifestyles that can lead to sustained intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal wellbeing outcomes.
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ItemSupporting English as an Additional Language student wellbeing in secondary schools: Teacher perspectives and a group psychoeducational program( 2022)Objectives: There is increasing recognition that English as an Additional Language (EAL) students need additional support to thrive in an English-speaking country, particularly when adapting to a new country and developing English language skills. Yet, the understanding of their acculturative needs is limited. Further, no targeted interventions for their psychological adaptation or wellbeing are available in secondary school contexts. The present study aimed to address this gap in knowledge and practice. Methods: Mixed methods were used. In Phase 1, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three EAL teachers. In Phase 2, the adapted Coping with Study Abroad (CSA) program was piloted with 25 EAL students in an Australian secondary school. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated using a repeated-measures design (n = 20) and a qualitative feedback survey (n = 6). Results: EAL students experienced pervasive stresses in various aspects of school life, including learning (e.g., language barriers to participating in class activities) and wellbeing (e.g., negative emotions due to difficulty communicating in English). While the adapted CSA program provided an opportunity for EAL students to connect with each other, no significant changes were found between the pre- and post-intervention scores in proactive coping behaviours, psychological wellbeing, and negative stereotype about help-seeker. Conclusions: There are strengths and limitations in the current school practice and the adapted program for EAL students. To effectively support EAL students in secondary school, wellbeing support and English language skills development should work in synergy, with each enhancing the other.
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ItemDeveloping effective wellbeing interventions using universal bite-sized, online, school-based PPIs( 2022)With high rates of mental illness and illbeing among children worldwide, it is important to find ways of building the vocabulary, knowledge and skills needed to protect and nurture student wellbeing. Schools provide an opportune place for teaching children about wellbeing. Universal, bite-sized, online positive psychology interventions (PPIs) designed to build wellbeing among school aged cohorts, provide one option for all schools, including resource poor schools. However, understanding effectiveness is important. The RE-AIM framework was used here to plan for and evaluate PPI effectiveness, and to guide answers to the overarching thesis question: Is the brief universal online PPI HQthrive effective in increasing primary school students’ wellbeing, in terms of process and outcome effectiveness? This thesis includes discovery, development and evaluation phases of HQthrive. The discovery phases included a systematic literature review and focus group research to determine existing needs, value and fit for PPIs within the primary school context. Focus groups involved 44 grade 5/6 students and 38 teachers, from six country and three city Victorian primary schools. Focus groups included rich picture mapping, as well as focus group discussion. The development phase included co-design of the online PPI HQthrive, for grade 5/6 primary school classes. The final evaluation phase involved a pilot study of HQthrive at six Victorian primary schools, including 20 classes, 20 classroom teachers, and paired data from 131 students. Evaluation included examination of the adoption and implementation process, and examination of indicators of success, including participant feedback, researcher observations, emotional vocabulary data, subjective survey data of hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing, and objective physiological data. Overall pedagogy, implementation and learning processes, and alternative outcome measures for PPIs are highlighted as important consideration for future research.
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ItemExploring Chinese international student conceptualisation and language use about wellbeing( 2022)A significant number of students at the higher education level study abroad for part or all their program. International students face various challenges in their studies, from academic structures that are different from their home country and language barriers to psychological and sociocultural issues. These challenges increase the risk for high levels of distress and physical and mental illness. Support for mental health and wellbeing is becoming a significant concern, with existing supports criticised for often being inadequate or inaccessible. As students’ academic performance and overall overseas experience are highly correlated with their mental health and wellbeing, it is important to identify strategies to better support international student mental health and wellbeing. This begins with the need to better understand how international students perceive, experience, and communicate about and for wellbeing. This thesis focuses on one international student population: Chinese students in Australia. Chinese international students constitute about one-third of all international students in Australia and face both language difficulties and cultural-based stigma towards seeking mental health and wellbeing support. The project includes three studies that explored lay conceptualisations of wellbeing and identified students’ language use about and for wellbeing, how students experience wellbeing, and their perspectives and preferences of activities that maintain and improve wellbeing for themselves and others. A modified prototype analysis approach was applied, which involved an online survey and semi-structured interviews. In the online survey, 123 participants created a list of wellbeing components, rated the listed wellbeing components and indicators, and wrote both high and low wellbeing narratives. Participants also freely reported activities that strengthen their wellbeing. To provide additional depth and understanding, a subset of 30 students was interviewed about their perceptions, language use, and experiences of wellbeing. Study 1 demonstrated that Chinese international students’ conceptualisations of wellbeing are prototypically structured, including several central and peripheral components, such as security, positive relationships, and self-strength. In Study 2, fifty-four meaningful words and phrases were identified that students used to communicate about and for wellbeing, including hobbies, passion, and family. Participants viewed physical illness, mental illness, and negative perspective/emotions as indicative of low wellbeing. Notably, perceptions varied when students wrote or spoke in English versus Chinese. In Study 3, participants indicated that a sense of competence, feeling supported and connected, and low levels of pressure contribute to their wellbeing, and that intrapersonal activities, like personal growth and development, were their primary approach to strengthening wellbeing. Through prototype analysis, thematic analysis, phenomenographic analysis, and language analysis, this dissertation comprehensively explores Chinese international student wellbeing conceptualisations, wellbeing language, and wellbeing experiences. In particular, the findings broaden the conceptualisations of wellbeing for the lay population of Chinese international students, offer a snapshot of the words/phrases used around wellbeing, identify the experiences and pathways that strengthen their wellbeing, and provide new data of population wellbeing through a holistic lens.
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ItemConceptualising and Measuring Wellbeing Literacy( 2022)Abstract This thesis aims to conceptualise and measure wellbeing literacy, an emergent concept regarding the capability of mindful language use about and for wellbeing. Wellbeing literacy has potential value to theory, measurement and practice in fields including wellbeing science, positive education, and public health. However, prior to this thesis, the concept of wellbeing literacy had not been operationalised or measured. A consensus on what wellbeing literacy is and how it is measured is essential for future research and practice using this concept. This thesis is comprised of three studies conceptualising and measuring wellbeing literacy for the first time. Specifically, Study 1 developed a parsimonious measure of wellbeing literacy, and used it to examine the nomological networks and incremental value of wellbeing literacy. Study 2 systematically reviewed the definitions of literacy, which were used to refine the concept of wellbeing literacy in the final study. Study 3 used a Delphi approach to gather experts’ opinions and adjusted the conceptualisation of wellbeing literacy accordingly. The findings from the overall thesis provided some of the first evidence that wellbeing literacy is a distinct construct from wellbeing and illbeing, and it also predicted significant unique variance in these constructs over and above established predictors, such as resilience and emotion regulation. Then an operational framework of wellbeing literacy was proposed based on the systematic review of literacy and refined according to 26 international experts’ feedback. This framework may be useful in developing other measurement tools of wellbeing literacy, including objective measures that do not rely on self-report. This PhD research makes an original contribution to the field of wellbeing science, positive education, and public health by clarifying what wellbeing literacy is and by conducting preliminary examinations of its use as a measurement tool. Future research could use the measure to explore the relationship between wellbeing and other key variables in wellbeing science, positive education, and public health. The operational framework could be applied in developing other measures of wellbeing literacy or education programs for wellbeing literacy.
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ItemFactors Related to Teacher Turnover from Schools and the Profession: A Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Survey( 2022)High teacher turnover from schools is a problem in many countries, with consequences including adverse impact on student learning and wastage of school resources. Many studies have investigated various antecedents of turnover in isolation; however, few comparative assessments of the antecedents have ever been conducted. This thesis quantifies the relative significance of individual and contextual antecedents of the retention or turnover of teachers from their schools and the profession. First, a systematic review of the teacher turnover literature identifies antecedents of turnover and retention of teachers in schools and the profession. Second, a meta-analysis of the quantitative studies calculates which are the most powerfully associated antecedents with turnover and retention behaviors and intentions. Third, an empirical survey targeting current and former teachers in Australia generates further evidence for the significance of certain antecedents and seeks to explain why teachers’ career behaviors do not always match their intentions. Thematic analyses of the qualitative data help provide a comprehensive understanding of teachers’ experiences when deciding on whether to stay or to leave schools and teaching; the antecedents affecting their decision; and the strategies and support required for enabling them to stay and flourish. These three studies work together towards the broader goals of classifying and clarifying prior teacher turnover studies; comparing and calculating the strength of previously studied antecedents; and exploring the extent to which such antecedents are reflected in a sample of a contemporary Australian sample of teachers and ex-teachers.
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ItemHappily sensitive: A mixed method exploration of wellbeing in highly sensitive individuals( 2021)Although manifesting in different ways across and within cultures, the subjective experience of wellbeing and happiness is a cherished goal for many individuals, communities, and societies around the world. Research, philosophies, discussions, and writings across a range of disciplines has provided definitions, measures, and various understandings of wellbeing. Yet there remains much to learn about the varied ways that wellbeing is experienced, cultivated, and hindered for various populations. As a subjective construct, individuals experience wellbeing in different ways, and wellbeing can be influenced by a range of variables, including personality, genetics, and culture. Culture explicitly and implicitly creates and reinforces social norms and expectations, which impact upon how individuals make sense of and experience their place within that culture. In Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) cultures, social norms around wellbeing tend to emphasize social outgoingness and high-arousal positive emotions, with introversion and negative emotion looked down upon or even pathologized. However, the influence of these cultural norms on wellbeing generally remains unacknowledged in much of the theoretical and research literature. Importantly, this extravert-centric conception of wellbeing does not fit many individuals who live within WEIRD societies. There is a need to better understand how wellbeing is created and experienced by the large number of people for whom wellbeing manifests in alternative ways. This thesis specifically focuses on one such population group: individuals who score high on the personality trait of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS). It consists of three factors: ease of excitation (EOE), aesthetic sensitivity (AES), and low sensory threshold (LST). Estimates suggest that about 25% of general populations score high on sensitivity, suggesting that there may be adaptive aspects of the trait. This thesis investigated sensory processing sensitivity using a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology. The quantitative component examined how SPS relates to a range of wellbeing and illbeing domains, through an online questionnaire completed by 430 individuals. I examined correlations amongst overall SPS and its factors, the Big Five personality factors (extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and agreeableness), and multiple dimensions of subjective wellbeing (e.g., positive and negative emotions, relationships, meaning); compared wellbeing profiles for low and high SPS groups, explored differential associations for the three SPS factors; and tested intersections amongst the Big Five, SPS, and wellbeing. SPS was negatively correlated with all wellbeing domains, but after controlling for neuroticism and depressive symptoms, associations reversed, resulting in positive correlations between SPS and wellbeing, suggesting that previously observed illbeing correlates may be due to neuroticism and psychological distress, rather than SPS itself. The qualitative component investigated how sensitive individuals experience and cultivate wellbeing within a WEIRD society. Twelve adults participated in semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest that highly sensitive individuals perceive wellbeing arising from harmony across multiple dimensions. Interviewees emphasized the value of low-intensity positive emotion, self-awareness, self-acceptance, positive social relationships balanced by times of solitude, connecting with nature, contemplative practices, emotional self-regulation, practicing self-compassion, having a sense of meaning, and hope/optimism. Barriers of wellbeing included physical health issues and challenges with saying no to others. This thesis presents the first extensive empirical investigation of subjective wellbeing in a high-SPS population group. Overall, findings from this thesis suggest that associations between SPS and wellbeing depend upon how wellbeing is operationalized and the SPS factor under consideration. Furthermore, this thesis provides a nuanced picture of personality and wellbeing relationships, presenting key insights into how sensitive individuals live well, within the context of friction between their natural personality and the social, cultural, and historic context in which they live.
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ItemA path to flourishing: the role of emotion regulation in adolescent wellbeing and positive education( 2018)Emotion regulation (ER) is a widely recognized contributor to adaptive psychological functioning, and an important developmental task of adolescence. Positive education programs (PEPs) are school-based interventions that seek to enhance wellbeing and protect young people against the development of psychological distress and dysfunction. To date, the role and relevance of ER to PEPs remains unknown. The central objective of this thesis was to evaluate the relationship of ER with the full spectrum of mental health in an adolescent sample, and to determine the relevance of ER to outcomes of a best-practice PEP. A literature review explored methodological and conceptual considerations in the examination of ER in adolescent wellbeing. A second, targeted review of the literature (Publication 1) synthesized two fields of research, ER and positive psychology interventions, to reveal that processes of ER are meaningfully related to domains of wellbeing, including positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and health (i.e., the PERMA model). An exploratory study of 101 adolescents (age 14 -16; 36% female) was then conducted to assess the degree of covariance between change in physiological (i.e., heart rate variability; HRV) and self-report measures of ER (i.e., the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; DERS) over the school year, to determine if including both measures in subsequent analyses provides a more comprehensive measure of ER than using one alone. Small, significant relationships were found between HRV and DERS total score, indicating that HRV and self-report represent related but largely distinct processes contributing to the ER construct. A second study of 119 adolescents (age 14-17; 50% female) then evaluated the cross-sectional relationship between multiple ER measures and domains of positive and negative psychological functioning. As predicted, after controlling for covariates (i.e., age and school), hierarchical regression analyses revealed that self-reported ER predicted resilience, perseverance, connectedness, and happiness; and fewer depression and anxiety symptoms. Higher HRV also predicted resilience and perseverance. Effect sizes were small to moderate. To explore the longitudinal relationship between ER and wellbeing, and to determine the role of ER in PEP outcomes, a third empirical study was conducted. This study examined the relationship between two self-report measures of ER and changes in wellbeing scores of 44 Year 10 adolescents (50% female, m age = 15.07) following a year-long PEP compared to a treatment-as-usual control condition (n = 36; m age = 15.11; 18.8% female,). Results of linear mixed modelling revealed that ER meaningfully predicted wellbeing over time. A time-by-group-by-ER interaction revealed that adolescents with low ER capacity enrolled in PEP reported improvements in happiness and social connection following PEP exposure, and benefits were sustained at least 6-months post treatment. Irrespective of treatment group, greater ER capacity was associated with higher wellbeing and resilience, and fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety over time. PEP did not improve students’ ER capacity. Overall, this thesis underscores the importance of ER capacity to the full spectrum of adolescent mental health, and indicates that PEP interventions may be extended and enhanced by conceptualizing them within a broader, theoretical ER framework. Finally, results provide preliminary support for the value of ER in differentiating students who are more likely to benefit from PEP participation, and suggest that current PEP models might benefit from the inclusion of explicit ER training and interventions.
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ItemContained art experiences for young people, staff and an a/r/tographer in Nicaragua: implications for art education and wellbeing( 2017)Contained Art Experiences (CAE) was developed as an art practice in response to my work with Si a La Vida (SALV), a small Non-Governmental Organisation that supports young people and families who have experienced trauma through poverty, violence and neglect in Nicaragua, Central America. Within this cultural setting, I explored CAE as a new quality art practice with the aim of enriching participants’ capacities of awareness of self and other, to assist them in strengthening relationships that contribute to resilience and wellbeing and in responding more positively to their cultural reality. CAE was developed through my prior experience, blending three constructs: attachment theory and attuned relationships; art making and wellbeing; and culture, art practice and recovery from trauma. CAE invited participants to consider and express their experiences and feelings through their art making within an environment where they were valued and where they sensed the presence of an attuned relationship. My exploration of CAE was a qualitative investigation, guided by a/r/tography and case study methodologies that interacted together to create and inform a trans-methodological frame for the study. This frame allowed me to gather data through observations, artefacts and interviews resulting from the participation of 40 young people and two staff in CAE over a five-week period at SALV. Data gathered from reflection and artefacts during my time in Nicaragua recognised my participation in CAE as a/r/tographer. I analysed the data through a process of sifting and sorting that allowed a deeper and refined analysis, and brought a greater clarity to the emerging themes of participation, expression and new thinking. Weaving text and the creative work, The Altar, I responded to these themes. The Altar is an installation consisting of four elements set in a scene of a Catholic altar, with my choice of materials, techniques, and subjects informed by my interaction with the cultural context of Nicaragua. This text/creative response identified that participation in CAE allowed individual expression of experiences and feelings, and contributed to changed thinking and behaviour in young people, staff and a/r/tographer. Further, CAE contributed to their sense of value and the development of pro-social behaviours for young people. CAE informed teacher professional practice and their relationship with students, and provided a reflective practice for me, as a/r/tographer, that informed my relationship with participants and contributed to the process of implementing CAE. This is a small-scale study, however, I suggest that participation in CAE has implications for art and wellbeing as a new addition to quality art practices in a broader setting in education. CAE may provide a model of teacher professional learning and teacher reflective practice, and offer a relationship-centred student wellbeing approach that may support students who have experienced trauma.