TCK Part 1 Chapter Notes
Chapter 1: Where is Home? Key Points of Erikas Story
Erika was a girl that grew up in New York until the age of eight
years old. Her father was then transferred to work in Ecuador
where they lived for two years. After living in Ecuador, Erika
moved to Singapore, this is the place that she considered to be
home. Erika and her family lived in Singapore for thirteen years.
Erika made a lot of friends while she lived in Singapore, for most
of her childhood that was where she would call home. Every
summer Erika and her family would travel back to the states for
summer and her parents would say that they were going home
but Erika never considered going home to be when they
returned to the states, rather when they were going back to
Singapore in August. After Singapore, Erika moved to Wisconsin
where she attended University. She lived in Wisconsin for four
years; during this time her family was transferred back to the
states and stationed in Ohio. Erika did not return back to
Singapore during her time in University. Once she graduated she
decided she would go back to Singapore because she was not
comfortable where she was. She moved back to Singapore but
found that life there wasnt the same. It was not the same without
the help of the company that her father had, she was not able to
find a job because a lot of the jobs were reserved for citizens of
Singapore. In the end Erika came back to the states, unsure of
who she was and where she belonged. She did not grow up in the
United States, so she felt unfamiliar with the culture here, and she
realized that she doesnt fully belong in Singapore anymore
either. Her identity was lost and she did not know where she
could call home.
Chapter 2: Define TCKs
David Pollocks Definition of a TCK: A Third Culture Kid
(TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her
developmental years outside the parents culture. The TCK
frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not
having full ownership in any. Although elements from each
culture may be assimilated into the TCKs life experience, the
sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar
background (pg. 13)
Ximena Vidal wrote (2002): TKCs are an example of a people
whose experience and cultural identity cannot be understood
within the limiting traditional frameworks of culture. She goes
on to say the TCKs are an example of a new way to define culture
that is emerging in our post-modern world.
Ch. 1: How might you apply information in chapter one
personally and professionally?
Personally: I am unable to relate to Erika and her story because I
have lived and grown up in the United States my entire life. I do
have friends that have moved to the United States from other
countries and they have told me that it is difficult getting adjusted
to another culture because what they thought was normal and
apart of everyday life was different once they came to the states.
They have told me that it took them a long time to understand the
norms in this country and sometimes that they still feel out of
place. I have also noticed that they tend to hang out with people
from their culture more so than they do with others because they
feel more comfortable with people of their own culture.
Professionally: Knowing this information helps put into
perspective how students may feel when they first enter the
country and they dont know anyone. This allows me as a teacher
to assess what needs to be done with the student in helping them
adjust to the new environment that they are in. They will have
cultural differences and it is important to get them familiar with
what we do in out society but also let them know what they did in
their culture is not wrong or bad. We have to acknowledge
everyone in the school system and understand their backgrounds
and how they are behaviorally based off of where they have come
from and their cultural differences.
Ch. 2: TCK Characteristics Apply Personally/Professionally
Personally: What struck me the most in this chapter was the
people were able to connect with one another not because of
where they were from but from their experiences. Our definition
of what culture means is changing and its changing more towards
how people experience similar situations. A group of people that
grow up in similar situations share a culture based on experiences
and that is incredible.
Professionally: After reading this chapter it is apparent that every
student is going to come in with different experiences and these
experiences are what make them unique and help them view the
world around them. In order to understand what they believe is
disrespect, normal, common, and apart of their everyday lives, we
have to take the time to do research to get to know our students
background in order to fully understand how to teach them and
get them to respond to different ways of being taught. This will
also benefit the students that are having difficulty making friends.
We can explain to them how our culture may different than there
and where the miscommunication between peers is happening.
Chapter 3: Who are CCKs Chapter 3: Compare/contrast TCKs and CCKs

Coauthor Ruth Van Reken developed the following definition of I would say the biggest difference between TCKs and CCKs is
cross-cultural kids: that CCKs are a larger group of people. CCKs encompass anyone
A cross-cultural kid (CCK) is a person who is living or has who has interacted with two or more cultural environments. This
lived in or meaningfully interacted with two or more can be racial, cultural, environmental, and educational
cultural environments for a significant period of time during interactions. If a person has parents that are of two different races
childhood (up to age 18). they are considered to be a CCK. If a person has two parents that
An adult CCK (ACCK) is a person who has grown up as a have two different cultures, they are considered a CCK. If a
CCK. person has attended a school that consists of a majority of
There are many different types of groups of CCK and they are all students to have racially or culturally different background than
defined differently, here are some examples: what that person is, then they are considered to be a CCK. I feel
Traditional TCKs: Children who move into another culture like TCKs have very strict guideline to what they are. They are
with parents due to a parents career choice. kids that have moved to another culture that is different than their
own and grew up there within the time period of birth to eighteen
Children from bi/multicultural homes: Children born to
years old. These guidelines restrict who is considered to be a
parents from at least two cultures. May or may not be of the
TCK which therefore makes TCKs to be a subcategory to CCKs.
same race.
Children from bi/multiracial homes: Children born to parents
from at least two races. May or may not be of the same
culture.
Educational CCKs: Children who may remain in their home
or passport country but are sent to a school (e.g., an
international school) with a different cultural base and
student mix than the traditional home culture or its schools.
Children of refugees: Children whose parents are living
outside their original country or place due to circumstances
they did not choose, such as war, violence, famine, or natural
disasters.
Children of borderlanders: Children who cross borders
frequently, even daily, as they go to school, or whose parents
work across national borders.
Children of minorities: Children whose parents are from a
racial or ethnic group that is not part of the majority race or
ethnicity of the country in which they live.
International adoptees: Children adopted by parents from
another country other than the one of that childs birth.
Domestic TCKs: Children whose parents have moved in or
among various subcultures within that childs home country.
Please note several things about the CCK definition and our
model:
The traditional TCKs discussed in this book are also CCKs.
Just as a corporate brat or missionary kid is a TCK, so are
TCKs a subgroup of CCKs, as our new paradigm shows.
Each category listed under CCKs could have additional
subsets, just as TCKs do. This enables continued study in
each of the subgroups as we further compare and contrast the
specific experiences.
Unlike the definition for TCKs, the CCK definition is not
dependent on the question of where CCKs grow up, such as
outside the passport culture or overseas. This definition
focuses on the multiple and varied layering of cultural
environments that are impacting a childs life rather than the
actual place where the events occur.
CCKs are not merely living side by side with those from
other culture, but are interacting with more than one culture
in ways that have meaningful or relational involvement.
CCKs and ACCKs represent any and all nationalities,
ethnicities, and economic groups. Our focus is not on the
traditional ways of defining diversity but rather to look at the
shared commonalities of the experience that transcend our
 usual ways of categorizing people.

Chapter 4: Explain pros of Cross Cultural Childhood
Given a chance to be culturally competent
Forming a new culture, one that focuses on experiences
rather than expectations
Given a unique sense of personal and cultural identity
Contain hidden diversity
A greater grasp on worldly affairs
A better understanding of how to cross cultures
Amazing places that have been seen
A wealth of experience
Chapter 4: Explain cons of Cross-Cultural Childhood
Unsure of where they belong.
Dont really have a place to go home to
Stuck between two or more worlds.
Unable to identify with peers.
Unable to identify with their family
A sense of homelessness
Raised by a community
When they become adults they are torn between two worlds,
their home country and their passport country.

Chapter 5: Explain High Mobility Ch. 5: Effects of High Mobility

Paul Seamans description of mobility: Like nomads, we move Whether you are a TCK or not, living a high mobility or a
with the seasons. Four times a year we packed up and moved to, mobility life in general comes with a series of transitions: a
or back to, another temporary home. As with the seasons, each passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another.
move offered something to look forward to while something had
to be given up We learned early that home was an ambiguous Coauthor David Pollock developed his classic model of the
concept, and wherever we lived, some essential part of our lives normal transition cycle in the early 1980s and noted the following
was always someplace else. So we were always of two minds. We 5 predictable stages:
learned to be happy and sad at the same time. We learned to be 1. Involvement
independent and accept that things were out of our controlWe 2. Leaving
had the security and the consolation that whenever we left one 3. Transition
place we were retuning to another, already familiar one. 4. Entering
5. Reinvolvement

Because TCK go through the transition cycle so frequently, they

are particularly vulnerable to separation. Grief is a major and
often unrecognized factor for countless TCKs and ATCKs. They
experience this grief because of the richness in their lives.
Reasons for unresolved grief:
1. Fear of denying the good.
2. Hidden losses
3. Lack of permission to grieve
4. Lack of time to process
5. Lack of comfort