Chapter 4: Identity and Inclusion: Education in Refugee Camps in Thailand

The role of schooling and formal education in refugee populations cannot be separated from the wider political environment—within refugee communities, the host state, the state of origin and the international refugee regime. This is because formal education is often used as a means of identity formation. In the refugee camps in Thailand, the reproduction and transmission of Karen identity in schools is bound up with Skaw Karen language, Karen history, religion, and formal forms of schooling. This chapter examines identity formation as the basis for inclusion and exclusion in education. It goes beyond an enumeration of the indicators of exclusion. Instead, it turns the question around and examines what being included means, and how those who do not subscribe to this are excluded. In addition, it examines how these conceptions of identity interact with structural inequalities. The discussion leads to the conclusion that identity and inclusion are indicators of the tension formed by the reproduction of an ethno-nationalist identity in schools in the setting of a multiethnic camp population. Attempts at addressing issues of access and equity, while valuable, have been piecemeal and limited because they do not fully address this tension. Nevertheless, current attempts at a more integrated approach to inclusion may yield substantial gains in access and equity in the long run.