A phenomenological study of gifted cross-cultural kids at an international school : exploration of intersecting identities

There are several common characteristics between cross-cultural students and gifted students (Gallagher, 2019; Sheard, 2008). At the same time, there is limited research into practices of international schools when identifying and supporting these highly-mobile gifted students (Gallagher and Curtain, 2017; Robinson, 2006). This lack of evidence suggests that many international schools do not cater for the needs of culturally and linguistically (CLD) gifted students by offering tailored programs for differentiation. Framed within the Third Culture Kid (TCK) identity construct, this phenomenological study investigates the experiences of identified gifted students who are being educated in an elite American-curriculum international school in South America. Utilizing qualitative data, this study seeks to answer the following question: how do gifted Cross-Cultural Kids understand the intersection of their gifted and cross culture identities? This study contextualizes that question inside the organizational environment of the school that used selection criteria based on the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), and the Renzulli Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (RSRBCSS) for a gifted program. Through maximum variation sampling, 9 gifted third-culture students from middle and high school who have spent a portion of their academic careers in international schools were selected for interviews.

Third-Culture Kid Pilots and Multi-Cultural Identity Effects on Pilots’ Attitudes

BACKGROUND: Current attempts to culturally tailor human factors training in aviation segregates cultural identities based on geopolitical, passport nationality, and is therefore poorly suited for (adult) ‘Third Culture Kids’ (TCKs) whose cross-cultural upbringing has led to the development of multicultural individual identities that do not reflect their passport nationalities. In this study, respondents’ self-categorization of personal cultural identity, as opposed to passport nationality, was used to determine whether there were cultural differences in airline pilots’ behaviors.METHOD: A survey with items imported from established scales was distributed to pilots of an international airline to measure pilots’ work values, flight management attitudes, and cultural dimensions, with respondents segregated into Western, TCK, or Asian cultural groups.RESULTS: TCKs shared similar work values with Westerners, were similarly individualistic, had comparable preference for shallow command gradients, were similarly pragmatic in self-evaluation of performance under stress, and both had lower dependency and preference for rules and procedures. TCKs scored in the middle between Westerners and Asians in automation preference attitudes, and on the cultural dimensions of power distance and uncertainty avoidance. TCKs did not share any similarities with Asians at all.DISCUSSION: The results show that TCKs were neither assimilated into a mainstream culture, nor culturally “middle of the pack” as may be expected from their “East meets West” backgrounds. Having identified TCK pilots’ unique values, attitudes, and dimensions, practical implications include changing training design to better suit TCKs’ cultural characteristics and the adaptation of airline management to cater for TCKs’ work values.Chan WT-K, Harris D. Third-culture kid pilots and multi-cultural identity effects on pilots’ attitudes. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2019; 90(12):1026–1033.

Dancing with Rita

Post-colonial literature from India needs to move away from the tendency to focus on just a British Indian framework and broaden its perspective to include wider frameworks including the Luso-Indian framework. This original ‘ghost story’ is just one example of Goan Gothic literature that has emerged from the influence of four hundred and fifty-one years of the Portuguese colonial experience in Goa, South India. The author is a Goan migrant and Adult Third Culture Kid, currently living in Goa. This story has been adapted and embellished, based on one that was told to the author by her aunt in Goa over a decade ago.

A comprehensive examination of antecedents of cultural intelligence amongst students

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the various antecedents that impact the development of cultural intelligence (CQ) among students. The study also explores how growing up as a third culture kid (TCK) or a monoculture kid (MCK) impacts the relationship between the antecedents and CQ. Design/methodology/approach Using data from 307 students consisting of both TCKs and MCKs, the authors test the direct effects and moderation model amongst the antecedents and CQ. Convenience sampling was employed to choose the participants for the study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and administered to the students via e-mail. Findings The results indicated that short-term trips abroad, undertaking a cross-cultural management course, local culture proficiency, watching films from other cultures, language of work proficiency, having friends from other cultures and interaction with people from different nationalities had a significant effect on CQ. Practical implications This study provides a list of variables that facilitate the development of intercultural competence amongst students, which can be used as a base by academic institutions to develop various courses, classroom activities and university programs. Also, classifying students as TCKs and MCKs helps us understand which CQ antecedents are more important for which category of students. Originality/value This is one of the first studies on antecedents of CQ, which explores the impact of being a TCK or MCK on the development of students’ CQ.

Global nomads, cultural chameleons, strange ones or immigrants? An exploration of Third Culture Kid terminology with reference to the United Arab Emirates

The term ‘Third Culture Kid’ (TCK) is commonly used to denote children living in a host culture other than their passport culture during their developmental years. However, its meaning in relation to other terminology referring to a similar concept is a source of interest for many stakeholders. This paper opens up opportunities for further exploring and critiquing the definition of TCK, and opening this up to case studies within the context of the United Arab Emirates and more widely. It is critical to clarify the terminology in light of unprecedented levels of international migration throughout the world. This paper reviews the meaning of culture in relation to TCKs, and explores the meaning of the TCK concept as well as a number of other terms used as alternatives to TCK. A contextualization of the literature follows in relation to the researchers’ own lived experiences in the United Arab Emirates. The term TCK can be seen as part of the general stock of theoretical concepts. This paper acknowledges that it cannot catch all nuances of migrant children in the global context.

Escaping National Tags and Embracing Diversity: Third Culture Kid Songwriters

Nowadays, more and more writers cannot be classified according to one single nation. Whereas in Imagined Communities Anderson describes the development of nations and national belongings, in Third Culture Kid (TCK) discourse a central theme is the concept of not belonging to one specific nation or culture (“NatioNILism”). TCKs are individuals who were raised moving from one country to the next due to their parents’ career choices. Not having had a fixed home while growing up, rather than accepting classifications according to nations and cultures, many TCKs prefer to embrace diversity. Antje Rauwerda argues that the fiction of adult TCKs comprises typical features that reflect the consequences of a displaced international childhood and accordingly coins the new literary classification Third Culture Literature. Whereas Rauwerda exclusively analyses novels written by TCKs, this article examines whether the effects of hypermobile international childhoods can be detected in the works of TCK songwriters. By analysing not only the song lyrics of contemporary musicians such as Haikaa, Sinkane and Tanita Tikaram but also the artists’ views regarding issues such as belonging, identity and transience, it will be shown that in the scholarly realm the TCK lens can be expanded to song texts too.

What is Home for a Third Culture Kid?

The article looks into the HOME concept as it is verbalized in discourse of Third Culture Kids (TCKs), a social group defined as people who have spent a considerable period of their developmental years in a culture different from that of their parents’. The topicality of the study rests on the fact that though the sociological research into the TCK phenomenon started in the 1950s, yet it is only in the 21st century that cognitive linguistics, cultural linguistics, socio- and psycholinguistics start to examine this social group. Since current globalization processes have turned workforce migration into a typical feature of modern societies, parents’ mobility exposes more and more children to two or more cultures. As long as children face cultural differences before their identity has been constructed, they have difficulty affiliating with any social group. The analysis of the terms used as synonyms for TCK has revealed that the components of this concept are ‘mobility’ (interpreted either as occasional relocation or as a lifestyle feature), ‘belonging’ (to the whole world rather than a country or region) and future orientation (next generations are expected to be made up largely by TCKs). Regular moves change TCKs’ perception of the most natural human concepts. Thus, the concept HOME becomes quite puzzling and controversial and may be interpreted in a number of ways: from a place where one is currently living to everywhere or nowhere. The HOME concept is vital for one’s self-identification: it gives one a sense of belonging and anchors one emotionally to a place and a community. However, TCKs, well-versed in saying goodbyes, tend to avoid bonding, i,e. strategies aimed at forming close relations, though they acquire a high competence in bridging, i.e. in strategies that deal with overcoming cultural dissimilarities. Understanding a partner’s place identity helps to make their behaviour and their worldview predictable, which turns the ‘Where are you from?’ question into a typical one at the first encounter. It is this very question that is inevitably perceived by TCKs as a challenge, since they are conscious of their vague or peculiar conceptualization of the HOME concept.

How an Antipodean Perspective of International Schooling Challenges Third Culture Kid (TCK) Conceptualisation

This article recounts the story of Jack’s primary and secondary schooling career across several countries and eventual relocation and tertiary education in Victoria, Australia. His narrative is described here as an antipodean educational trajectory. What is meant by antipodean education is contrasted to the long established concept of the third culture kid (TCK). There are overlaps in these concepts. The argument is made, however, that Jack’s travelling and multiple education cultural mix gives him a different sense of himself that is not fully accounted for in the TCK literature. Global movement of people for employment and other reasons such as politics, governmental or service professions, continues today, Taking children with working and mobile parents has long been characterised as creating third culture kids who do not belong to either originating or hosting societies. Today, however, it is less the case that this can be adequately described as travel ‘out from’ and ‘back to’ the geo-political centres. This changing socio-cultural reality means re-examining what kinds of educational opportunities and experiences children are exposed to and the effects of these on young people.