We are what we teach: teaching youth work on the Thai Burma border

Young people who live in protracted refugee settings such as those on the Thai- Burma border face circumstances that substantially alter their lives and prospects. The prolonged conflict in Burma has had a particularly devastating effect on young people who have been victims of forced labour, and recruited into both fighting and trafficking. Many more are displaced in refugee camps, sometimes separated from their families, or orphaned, and must undertake a long, painstaking process to rebuild their lives. This makes education in these contexts both challenging and vital. Since 2008, the Australian Catholic University has attempted to meet this need by providing a Diploma of Liberal Arts on the Thai-Burma border. This paper explores the experience of teaching in the diploma and, in particular, teaching a youth work subject in adolescent development.