Transcript YIS_TCK_workshop_(M_Hayden)_1.6.11

Yokohama International School
Third Culture Kids & Global Nomads
Some research to date and
implications for international schools
Dr Mary Hayden
1 & 2 June 2011
Third Culture Kids/Global Nomads
Who are they?
What sorts of characteristics/experiences do they
share?
How may (international) schools best support them?
Who are they?
Global Nomads (McCaig, 1992) are
“perpetual outsiders, …. born in one nation, raised in
others, flung into global jet streams by their parents’
career choices and consequent mobility. [They]
shuttle back and forth between nations, languages,
cultures and loyalties. They live unrooted childhoods”
(Eidse and Sichel, 2004)
The Third Culture Kid
TCK as a term coined by Useem and Useem in the
1950s after research with expatriate American
families in India, and then with the expatriate children
on return to the USA
Tends to be used interchangeably with Global Nomad
(should it be?)
Other terms and sub-groupings include ‘Missionary
Kids’ (MKs), ‘Preacher Kids’ (PKs), ‘Military Brats’
Willis, Enloe and Minoura (1994) refer to the ‘New
Diaspora’ of ‘transculturals’ or ‘transnationals’
The Third Culture Kid
“Although they have grown up in foreign countries,
they are not integral parts of those countries. When
they come to their country of citizenship (some for the
first time), they do not feel at home because they do
not know the lingo or expectations of others especially those of their own age. Where they feel
most like themselves is in that interstitial culture, the
third culture, which is created, shared and carried by
persons who are relating societies, or sections
thereof, to each other”
(Useem, 1976)
Why are they in international schools?
Less enthusiasm than previously for ‘boarding’
children while parents travel (Harry Potter
notwithstanding)
Lack of suitable education in national system (for
various reasons)
For non-native English speaking families,
international school may be favoured for English
medium education (“proxy language school”:
Deveney 2000)
Transferability/recognition of the curriculum
What sorts of characteristics/
experiences do they share?
TCKs live in a “jumbo jet culture, where pint-sized
travellers flash their passports in exotic airports, or
smoothly exit in chauffeur-driven airport limousines or
embassy cars” (Pascoe, 1993)
In many respects they are privileged. Benefits of such
a lifestyle include “an expanded view of the world,
adaptability, cross-cultural skills, social skills,
observational skills and linguistic skills”
(Rader and Sittig, 2003)
‘TCK’ characteristics
Some of the more negative characteristics can include
“confused loyalties, a sense of rootlessness and
restlessness, a lack of true identity, and unresolved
grief”
(Rader and Sittig, 2003)
a “residue of unresolved grief, anger and depression”
and a reluctance to form close emotional bonds
(Pollock, 1994 in Pollock & Van Reken, 1999)
Some (eg adaptability) are a mixture of
positive and negative ...
“They show forced extroversion by going out of their
way to get to meet new people and form friendships
quickly. They tend to mesh and mimic, which cuts
down on the need to gain acceptance. They travel
lightly, entering relationships that are typically shortterm and intense, and they develop ease in saying
goodbye, leaving very few people from whom they
cannot walk away”
[McKillop-Ostrom, 2000]
TCK characteristics
Identity: can be a lack of clarity as to ‘who they are’,
where they ‘belong’, where is ‘home’
“Home is where we are living together as a family at
the moment; our nationality is Canadian” (Pascoe,
1993); family home in Canada acts as base to which
they return during vacations and between
assignments
See, eg, Grimshaw T and Sears C (2008) Where am I
from? Where do I belong? The negotiation and
maintenance of identity by international school
students, Journal of Research in International
Education, 7, 3, 259-278
Culture Shock
Models originated in 1950s (U-curve and, later, W
curve) begin with first stage of initial enthusiasm. Will
all TCKs be enthusiastic about the move?
TCK’s whole family may be culture shocked: some
suggestion that strongest correlation with children
settling quickly is level of contentment of mother (for
traditional family unit)
Cultural learning
Some culture shock not necessarily negative: it is
only with some shock that cultural learning takes
place, leading to ‘intercultural literacy’ (Heyward,
2002; Allan, 2002 and 2003)
Allan refers to ‘cultural dissonance’, finding in a study
in his own school that intercultural learning took place
mainly in students from outside the majority (AngloAmerican) culture
Language
International schools generally English-medium; nonEnglish speakers require additional support (ESL,
EAL, ESOL …..); pull-out programmes, support in the
homeroom, ……
Increasing numbers of international school students
are not native English speakers (Carder, 2007)
What does it mean for a child to be ‘bilingual’ or
‘multilingual’?
Language …...
‘Semilingualism’: having some but not ‘sufficient’
competence in two languages (Baker, 2001)
‘Functional Multilingualism’: being multilingual at a
surface level of conversation, but appearing to have
difficulty developing abstractions and higher order
thinking skills: thinking remains ‘stuck’ at a concrete
level (Kusuma-Powell, 2004)
Language …..
Link between language development and cognitive
development processes: does lack of support for
young child’s ‘first language’ (if not English, in an
English-medium international school) delay cognitive
development? (Murphy, 2003)
Importance of supporting mother tongue
development (Carder, 2007)
How may (international) schools
best support them?
[see, eg, Langford (1998), Davis (2001),
Dixon & Hayden (2008)]
Ensure teachers are trained in working with TCKs, eg:
familiarity with a range of cultural norms [‘look me in
the eye when I’m speaking to you!’]
understanding and recognising stages of culture
shock
being knowledgeable about various stages of
language development for supporting non-native
English speakers
Ensure schools provide support in relation to:
celebrating positive characteristics of TCKs
counselling for new and departing students
classroom activities to facilitate arrival of new pupils
classroom activities to facilitate pupils’ departure
support/professional development for teachers
(development of a ‘profiling’ portfolio to aid transfer)
develop ‘transition resource teams’ (of 7-10 teachers,
counsellors, administrators, parents, students) - such
as at UNIS-Hanoi - to deliver ‘transition programmes’,
coordinate activities within school and increase
expertise among team members and staff more
widely
(McKillop-Ostrom, 2000)
Some interesting issues
Rapidly growing numbers of TCKs/global nomads
Growing complexity of their characteristics (eg 3rd, 4th
generation TCKs with no concept of ‘home’ country)
Growing number of non-English speaking students in
international schools
Growing number of non-TCKs in international schools
Experiences of children of international school
educators (cf Zilber, 2009)
And …… growing number of ‘Adult TCK’ (ATCK)
teachers in international schools
References
Allan M (2002) Cultural Borderlands: a case study of cultural dissonance in an international
school, Journal of Research in International Education, 1, 1, 63-90
Allan M (2003) Frontier Crossings: cultural dissonance, intercultural learning and the
multicultural personality, Journal of Research in International Education, 2, 1, 83-110
Baker C (2001) Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (3rd edition), Clevedon:
Multilingual Matters
Carder, M. (2007) Bilingualism in International Schools: a model for enriching language
education, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters
Davis R P (2001) Wherever I Lay My Hat, That’s My Home, University of Bath: Unpublished
dissertation for MA in Education
Deveney M (2000) An Investigation into the Influences on Parental Choice of an International
School in Thailand, unpublished dissertation for MA in Education (International Education),
University of Bath
Dixon P G S and Hayden M C (2008) ‘On the Move’: Primary Age Children in Transition,
Cambridge Journal of Education, 38, 4, 483-496
Eidse F and Sichel N (2004) Introduction, in F Eidse and N Sichel (eds) (2004) Unrooted
Childhoods: memoirs of growing up global, Nicholas Brealey Publishing: London and
Yarmouth, Maine
Fail H, Thompson J and Walker G (2004) Belonging, Identity and Third Culture Kids: life
histories of former international school students, Journal of Research in International
Education, 3, 3, 319-338
Grimshaw T and Sears C (2008) Where am I from? Where do I belong? The negotiation and
maintenance of identity by international school students, Journal of Research in International
Education, 7, 3, 259-278
Heyward M (2002) From International to Intercultural: Redefining the International School for a
Globalized World, Journal of Research in International Education, 1, 1, 9-32
Kusuma-Powell O (2004) Multi-lingual, But Not Making It in International Schools, Journal of
Langford M (1998) Global Nomads, Third Culture Kids and International Schools, in M C
Hayden and J J Thompson (eds) (1998) International Education: Principles and Practice,
London: Kogan Page
McCaig N (1992) Birth of a Notion, The Global Nomad Quarterly, 1, 1, 1-2
McKillop-Ostrom A (2000) Student Mobility and the International Curriculum, in M C
Hayden and J J Thompson (eds) (2000) International Schools and International
Education: improving teaching, management &quality, Kogan Page: London
Murphy E (2003) Monolingual International Schools and the Young Non-EnglishSpeaking Child, Journal of Research in International Education, 2, 1, 25-45
Pascoe R (1993) Culture Shock! Successful Living Abroad: A Parent’s Guide, Portland,
Oregon: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company
Pollock D C and Van Reken R E (1999) The Third Culture Kid Experience: growing up
among worlds, Intercultural Press Inc: Yarmouth, Maine
Rader D and Sittig L H (2003) New Kid in School: Using Literature to Help Children in
Transition, New York: Teachers College Press
Schaetti B (1993) The Global Nomad Profile, in The Global Nomad: the Benefits and
Challenges of an Internationally Mobile Childhood, Regents College Conference, London,
23 April 1993
Schaetti B F (2002) Attachment Theory: A View Into the Global Nomad Experience, in M
G Ender (ed) (2002) Military Brats and Other Global Nomads: growing up in organization
families, Praeger: Westport Connecticut and London
Useem R H (1976) Third Culture Kids, Today’s Education, 65, 3, 103-105
Willis D B, Enloe W W and Minoura Y (1994) Transculturals, Transnationals: The New
Diaspora, International Schools Journal, XIV, 1, 29-42
Zilber E (2009) Third culture kids : the children of educators in international schools,
Woodbridge: John Catt Educational
Dr Mary Hayden
Email: [email protected]