Karens are an unusual breed. They tend to view life from their own viewpoint, and nothing causes more anger than someone opposing them.
Karen students enjoy music and sports, but are struggling to realize their full potential. A more structured learning environment would help. In the meantime, some teachers send their students for summer training at KNU headquarters.
1. Don’t let them get away with it.
Karens can be an extremely damaging presence in our schools. These students tend to be self-indulgent, selfish and consumed with their own interests; viewing everything through a Karen lens that only sees what triggers them and reacting immediately when something provokes their discomfort. Furthermore, Karens are very self-righteous individuals who fail to comprehend how their actions impact others.
Karens’ demands can have devastating repercussions in a system with limited resources, for instance if one teacher spends most of her time helping out Karen students rather than teaching other classes in her class. Furthermore, this may prevent one from receiving assistance they require or enrolling in courses they would otherwise like to take.
Administrators often feel overwhelmed and overburdened in addressing other school concerns, making Karens an added burden. Some may view them as threats to their career progression and resort to eliminating teachers as an easy solution; yet others view them as opportunities.
Karens can have a detrimental impact on our schools, harming the educational process and prompting many teachers to leave after only a few years due to stress, low pay, long hours, additional responsibilities, media attacks and general absurdity of dealing with them. Therefore, it’s imperative we come together as communities in order to fight back effectively against Karens in our schools and defeat them together.
2. Don’t give in.
Karens have an inbred sense of entitlement, expecting the highest-quality services and privileges from authorities. If their entitlement isn’t being met, they’re quick to complain to management or call police – particularly when using false victimhood tactics to manipulate and control others. Karens often display extreme emotional displays when in authority figures’ presence – often crying tears of their frustration about how badly they’ve been treated by others and exaggerating or lying about any incidents of mistreatment they experience.
Educators must recognize that Karen communities have distinct standards for the behavior and performance of their children. Teachers must avoid becoming complacent with these expectations or allow them to affect their work; otherwise they risk becoming desensitized to them and allowing them to impact on the quality of work produced by this community. Karens can be extremely difficult to work with as they do not shy away from confrontation or making allegations without solid evidence backing up such claims.
Karens possess an inflated sense of superiority. They tend to assume they are the leaders of their families and will demand priority over other family members when there is conflict. Furthermore, Karens tend to demand more of teachers’ time and energy than other students do – demands which could impede professional development efforts as well as hinder helping all pupils.
Although Karen are acknowledged by international society according to Westphalian principles, their nationhood remains unacknowledging and they rely on education systems unique to themselves to assert national identity and nationhood. Particularly prevalent within refugee camps and Kawthoolei-controlled Kawthoolei are education systems with deep cultural roots which differentiate them from both Bamar and Thai societies – thus creating an informal “horizontal comradeship” community which can survive without formal state protection (Anderson 2006).
3. Don’t act out.
“Karen” became synonymous with entitled, white women who take advantage of their privilege to oppress those of color. These Karens act as gatekeepers for their children’s well-being and expect schools to create paths toward success for them; when that doesn’t happen, they complain and call out the system in ways which seem condescending towards those working there.
While many Karens need assistance, others do not and this can be extremely disorienting for teachers who are trying to fulfill their job responsibilities. Teachers find it particularly disheartening when after making efforts in helping a student or parent they later feel their efforts were wasted;
One of the major barriers to working effectively with Karens is their unfounded beliefs, which often defy logic. For example, Karens believe in two distinct parts of their bodies–tha, for conscience purposes, and K’la, responsible for life maintenance–with the latter regularly under attack by malevolent spirits; protecting it with talismans or medicinal plants thus becomes important to their culture.
These unfounded beliefs can be destructive in schools. Not only can they damage relationships, but they can create an atmosphere of mistrust between teachers and their students, where trust in a teacher becomes impossible and students hesitate to voice concerns; furthermore, administrators might throw their teachers under the Karen bus for self-preservation or personal gain.
4. Don’t make excuses.
Karens have become notorious for behaving entitledly, insisting they deserve special privileges more than others and calling the police when denied them. Additionally, Karens frequently resort to false victimhood by crying when confronted with injustice or blaming victims for their own behaviors.
Schools are an especially challenging environment for Karen students. Teachers also often become exhausted and overwhelmed due to parental demands on them and can become overburdened with their responsibilities, leading to burnout that could ultimately cause them to leave teaching altogether.
Keep this in mind when approaching teachers: most want to hear from parents and students, assist those struggling, discuss grades or any other concerns, but many teachers have encountered students/parents who were unwilling to approach them due to being perceived as “Karen.” This should be taken seriously and addressed.
Karens living in KNU controlled Kawthoolei and refugee camps along the Thai border use cultural practices, governance structures, and educational methods that differ significantly from both Bamar and Thai society (Anderson 2006). Furthermore, shared consciousness that develops among refugees who cross international borders often transcends national borders despite having no personal memories or experiences in Burma (Anderson 2006).
These differences are manifest in the curriculum, which emphasizes Karen history and culture while downplaying much of Burma’s modern history and emphasizing different texts and teaching methods. Furthermore, Karen language and literature dominate migrant education compared to English as it dominates Burmese schools; this contrasted starkly with an independent transborder system developed independent of state control amid violent conflict and limited resources at its borders.
5. Don’t give up.
Karens have an unfortunate reputation of being challenging to deal with, often being loud and not listening or following instructions. Their behavior often stems from lack of resources or war culture; additionally they frequently belong to school systems that do not receive sufficient funding or have to operate within refugee settlements with minimal support from government and international nongovernmental organizations (Kuroiwa and Verkuyten).
Karen parents instil in their children values like sincerity, simplicity, brotherhood and humility as part of the curriculum. Karens believe in reincarnation and karma and many have seen family members tortured or killed by Burmese soldiers; instead of seeking revenge they prefer moving from place to place searching for peace and tranquillity; Karens place great value in education but are often lacking supplies or qualified teachers for classes.
Karens can drain teacher time and resources quickly in classrooms with limited resources, taking away support and chances to succeed for other students who require more assistance and assistance from them. It may also create an intimidating bullying culture which other pupils find hard to bear.
Administrators and schools that permit Karens to act out in the classroom send an unfavorable message: that “squeaky wheel gets the grease”; Karening can be an effective strategy for getting what they want if given enough opportunities in class. This message could have lasting ramifications as resistance against Burmese coup attempts mounts; Karens will play an instrumental role in fighting back.