Third culture kids’ sense of international mindedness: Case studies of students in two International Baccalaureate schools

Abstract

This paper uses part of the data from a larger qualitative inquiry in two International Baccalaureate schools, one in Australia and one in an Indian Ocean Island Nation (a pseudonym), to identify the factors and forces that contribute to the sense of self and understanding of and engagement with the notion of international mindedness in two 'third culture kids'. Socio-cultural theory is used as a conceptual framework to explore cross-cultural differences and similarities between the students and the schooling contexts. Analysing the students' perspectives about their understandings of international mindedness through grounded theory methods, the paper also develops hypotheses on the notions of being, belonging and becoming.

Where I’m from? Third Culture Kids about their cultural identity shifts and belonging

“…Moreover, to put our sample size into perspective, we checked earlier published qualitative TCK-research. In the 19 empirical studies on TCKs from 2004 to 2020 which we were able to trace (Bikos et al, 2014;Bjørnsen, 2020;Désilets, 2016;Fanning & Burns, 2017;Gambhir & Rhein, 2019;Gilbert, 2008;Greenholtz & Kim, 2009;Kwon, 2019;Lijadi & Van Schalkwyk, 2014;Park, 2019;Moore & Barker, 2012;Murai, 2016;Poonoosamy, 2018;Purdon, 2018;Purnell & Hoban, 2014;Smith & Kearney, 2016;Walters & Auton-Cuff, 2009;Westropp, Cathro, & Everett, 2016) the following sample size information was found. Only five studies had sample sizes larger than 20 (27, 30, 42, 43 and 74), one study had a sample of 20 TCKs, and 14 studies had sample sizes which were smaller than 20.…”

Interculturality and social skills? Relationships of the stays abroad of students of different faculties with intercultural and social competence

“…The main finding of this review is that young people who go to school in another country are more interculturally competent (with differing operationalizations of the competence concept, though; Morales, 2017). They are more likely to develop a sense of cultural differences, even if these vary greatly from one individual to another and depend on the particular environment (Poonoosamy, 2018). Third‐Culture kids are also generally said to be more interculturally competent and sensitive in adulthood (Waal, Born, Brinkmann, & Frasch, 2020), which, according to Nash (2020), makes them potentially promising expatriate candidates.…”

“…For future studies, it would be promising to analyse experiences abroad during childhood and possible consequences in a differentiated and in‐depth manner, possibly by means of a qualitative investigation. Poonoosamy (2018) already investigated the experience of third‐culture‐kids, but did not investigate their competence level.…”

Grief as an Integral Part of the Third Culture Kid Transition Experience: A Position Paper

“…Additional research found their sense of belonging was three times more strongly related to a relationship than to a location (Fail et al, 2004). The stories and experiences of Third Culture Kids shape how they see themselves and how they fit into the world, how they connect with others, where they see themselves now, and who they see themselves becoming (Poonoosamy, 2018). Their identities tend to be constructed from their experiences and based upon their goals and aspirations rather than on their backgrounds.…”