Cross-border transitions: navigating conflict and political change through community education practices in Myanmar and the Thai border

Abstract

Political oscillations in Myanmar and Thailand, between militarisation and democratic reform, have prompted a rapid renegotiation of the alignments, goals and priorities of non-state education providers, both international and community-based, along the two countries' border. This paper explores the responses to shifts in political environment which have affected community education practices, particularly for those whose interrupted education trajectories have further added to their social subordination, within Myanmar and amongst the refugee and migrant communities along the Thai border. Beginning with an outline of the nomadic space that these communities inhabit, I then explore the ways in which community education is influenced by and responding to changing cross-border movements and political shifts. ARTICLE HISTORY

Educational crisis of Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh: Access, obstacles, and prospects to formal and non-formal education

“…Inadequate knowledge of language and discouraging teacher approaches are the main challenges in non-formal education for critical thinking in Rohingyacamps. Despite these challenges, teachers can create a “ creative alternative space of becoming ”[ 93 ] for children, helping them renegotiate the borders of identity and belonging. They can build an environment “ conducive to creating futures, rather than simply inheriting them ” [ 94 ].…”

Language, education, and power in refugee camps: A comparison of Kakuma Refugee Camp (Kenya) and Thai-Myanmar refugee camps

“…A. Oh et al, 2019;World Education, 2016). Ethnic educators and exiled activists on the Thai side of the border have felt a sense of exclusion from the national education reform processes, expressing that their decades of work and expertise in education were being ignored by government and international actors (Maber, 2016). The increasing influence that the Myanmar state now plays in areas previously controlled by the ethnic minorities is raising new questions and contestation over the role of languages in conflict prevention, peace promotion, and education.…”

“…In contrast to the Kakuma Refugee Camp, the Thai-Myanmar refugee camps have a relatively well-established education system that is almost entirely managed by the refugee communities themselves (Maber, 2016;Oh & van der Stouwe, 2008). ii In the seven predominantly Karen camps, 64 basic education schools, 22 438 students, 1 005 teachers (Oh et al, 2019).…”

“…iii The Karen and Karenni in exile each have their own Education Department which provides standardized educational policymaking in the camps. This non-state, community-organized education system is so strong and well-coordinated that some young people have specifically sought to become refugees and residents in the camps precisely for the educational opportunities offered there (Lee, 2014;Maber, 2016).…”

Refugee education: Education for an unknowable future

“…While these shifts are frequently neocolonial in their external application (Schweisfurth, 2013), in refugee settings they are often in response to the flexibility teachers find their students need for an unknowable future (see also, Mahshi, 2006;Soudien & Baxen, 1997). In these contexts of uncertainty, teachers are able to harness what Maber calls "creative alternative space of becoming" (Maber, 2016), in which to renegotiate the boundaries of identity and belonging as they construct school environments that are conducive to creating futures, rather than simply inheriting them.…”