Refugee crisis and education: case of Tibetan teachers

Purpose The Tibetan refugee community has organized itself politically by establishing administrative structures in exile. More than 60 schools for Tibetan refugee children have been established in India to preserve the Tibetan language, culture and identity, while providing secular modern education. I undertook the study to investigate the underlying ideas, frameworks and perspectives with which Tibetan teachers teach language to their students. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted with 50 primary school refugee teachers teaching in schools that were located in distant Tibetan settlements in India. I used a blend of interviewing and projective technique to tap into their underlying assumptions. Findings The study found that the teachers overwhelmingly stress the preservation of Tibetan language and culture as the primary goal for language education. A major finding is that teaching Tibetan has not centred on the functions of language but rather on a larger political cause of the construction of refugee identity. The teachers view Tibetan as an assertion of refugee identity and argue that all children must learn Tibetan no matter where they are. In this process of identity and political assertion, the principles of curriculum theory, child development and learning take a back seat and a pedagogic crisis is born. Originality/value The paper explores and opens up a critical perspective on language education as a key instrument to building a refugee identity among children in Tibetan schools in India.