Redifining the Definition of a TCK
The one part of the “official” definition of a TCK I’m having trouble with is the part concerning spending a significant part of your formative years in a culture other then that of your parents. After all, the Canadian born children of Chinese immigrants to Canada are growing up in a culture different from that of their parents.
Second, the various categories of TCK’s (diplo/corporate/military/missionary…etc) are not all inclusive. I am a TCK because my immigrant father, having been overcome with nostalgia for his native land, packed us all up ( the cat too!), and moved the whole garrison back to HIS home. (Unfortunatley, it soon became evident to my father that it was his home no longer). I went to an International high school, and spent my entire adolescence immersed in the “third culture” of the expat community in Athens, Greece. Despite having lived in Greece since the age of 13, I did not interact with the larger Greek society in earnest until having to complete my mandatory military service a full seven years after having moved to Greece. My TCK friends who still live in Greece (most of whom are unfamiliar with the term TCK) refer to our International school as the “bubble school”, since we did quite literally exist in a seperate reality from the larger Greek society.
I am no less a TCK then the traditional diplo/corporate brat etc. I have, and still am experiencing all the trials and tribulations associated with repatriation to my country of birth and childhood, Canada. I can (and may eventually) write a book about the difficulties of being a “hidden” immigrant.
There are scores of immigrant children who migrated to Canada during their late childhood or early adolescence who are incorporating both worlds (their current and former) into their cultural identities. These children (many of them now adults) arrived here too late to feel Canada is where they are from, and too early to have arrived here as culturally rooted Taiwanese, Bengalis, or Haitians for example. They are no less TCK’s then the textbook example.
All this to say that I feel that the issue needs further examination.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Yeah, that’s true. Immigrant children have a different experience, even if they share some of the TCK issues.
There is a term for this, it’s called CCKs (Cross Cultural Kids).
“”A Cross-Cultural Kid (CCK) is a person who has lived in—or meaningfully interacted with—two or more cultural environments for a significant period of time during developmental years.””
http://tckid.com/crossculturalkid.html
The CCK definition is an umbrella term, but where do you feel you fit in?
I know a lot of Chinese immigrants in Vancouver, Canada who have incorporated both worlds, and still feel at home and belong.
(Is this spam?)
April 29th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Aris: One thing you should remember is that these are just academic terms and hence have their limitations and flaws. It’s just convenient to have a term to refer to a certain condition so that when you compare it to another condition you can refer to them more easily, i.e. TCK versus CCK experiences.
If you kept redefining terms it would become very difficult to have an academic discussion because nobody would know what anyone was referring to with the terminology.
In your particular case, Aris - I personally think you are a ‘hidden TCK’. You’re right. Because your dad became overcome with nostalgia and removed you from the country where you were well-adjusted, you had to go through repatriation and end-up having the same problems as a TCK.
I think generally speaking immigrants do not do this (repatriation) very much, hence for qualitative academic discussion they can’t be thrown into the same category as TCKs perhaps?
(Is this spam?)
April 29th, 2008 at 2:49 am
Brice,
I am referring more to the immigrant children who arrived in Canada roughly between the ages of 10 and 15. As I mentioned in my original post, these children came here too late in their lives to feel that Canada is their “country”, and too early to have arrived here as culturally rooted Chinese, Romanians, etc as their parents are. A 25 year old Sri Lankan who migrates to Canada is first and foremost a Sri Lankan, but their 10 year old daughter is not. Nor is she a Canadian.
My cousins who were born and raised in Canada to Greek parents are not TCK’s or CCK’s. They are first and foremost Canadians, since they not only were born here, they also lived here without interruption (in the same house!) their entire lives until adulthood.
Interestingly, I have noticed that many people who had arrived in Canada during their critical developmental years have actually joined the Canadian army. I am convinced that for the most part, this was an effort to feel more “Canadian”, or perhaps prove their “loyalties”. A bit of a shame if you ask me, since many of them are now trying to prove their “Canadianess” in Afghanistan.
(Is this spam?)
May 1st, 2008 at 5:13 pm
If I remember correctly, the TCK book does say that an immigrant isn’t necessarily a TCK. A key factor is the non-permanence of the situation. Even if you live there your whole childhood, it is not with the idea that your parents have emigrated and your family from now on will be the new nationality — your family purposely (on the part of the parents) maintains a foreign identity. Or something like that.
(Is this spam?)
June 28th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
yah immigrant is kinda different
strangely enough i wasn’t born a TCK. I was first a local kid, then immigrant then TCK.
and i have to say immigrant is a less lonely expereince because there’s WAY too many of us in Canada and ppl see u everywhere and they noe wt u mean just by looking at the color of ur skin.
but TCKness is totally not visible to others. I came bak to Canada and in their eyes I am just an immigrant because tat’s all they r capable of seeing with their eyes. but honestly… The Asian American experience is too different with TCK experience. because sum asian americans can suffer from denying their own culture completely, unlike TCKs who usually just get angry and refuse to change or fit in. TCKness is just not as well recognized by the public.
personally i dunt like being classified as “the immigrant kid”, because there’s so many untrue stereotypes attached to it. But for TCK…surprisingly enough the characteristics are reli quite similar and non-stereotypical.
(Is this spam?)
June 28th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I was an immigrant and yet my level of mobility is as high as any tck.
its true that many immigrants enjoy stability in one location/culture but you cannot exclude the more mobile ones from being tck.
there also simply mck and cck missionary kids, military brats, etc.so no group is exclusively tck or cck
(Is this spam?)
June 29th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Just a note to clear up terminology:
TCKs don’t have to move around that much. An American kid who moves to Nigeria and spends 15 years there and then returns to the US is a TCK. Just because one moved around more does not necessarily make him more TCK than someone who did not.
(Is this spam?)
June 29th, 2008 at 2:02 am
then who does the tck definition actually fit or not fit? I dont know if its just me or not but the term seems to be rather broad.. And is the reentry something that must be fullfilled for someone to be a tck? And what re entry would fullfill this “criterion”? In my case, I have not re entered my country of origin but I did so to my passport country a few years after I left it ( the experience was a huge shock). Cross cultural changes in developping years are a must; that is a nobrainer. The question is what differentiates a tck from the umbrella cck term? Am I a tck? Simply a cck? Some sort of modern nomad? I’m confused and I think we need to make terms more specific in order to avoid confusion. Once again, I don’t know if anyone else feels like this but I need a definite term so I could actually define myself easier… Especially when I keep having to defend my identity against monoculturals who don’t seem to understand that I have found a home for myself within semi constant change (nomadism) and that I do not want to settle down.. They don’t understand that I yearn for cultural chages as well and that addapting to a new place is actually fun … Heck they don’t even understand sometimes the concept of adaptation as I see it… Ehhh well anyways, I went off on a tangent… Excuse me for that given that I am kind of dealing with a small identity crysis
(Is this spam?)
June 29th, 2008 at 2:35 am
The question is - is it that important to redefine academic terms for you to have a solid sense of identity?
You are still you.
I am not religious but one could say you are one of God’s children and have a right to your own existence and nobody has the right to judge you and put you into a box - and you shouldn’t try to find a box to fit into either.
Whether you are a CCK or TCK does not make a difference in whether you are welcome in this community. Unlike in real world countries it’s not like TCKs are the WASPs of America and everyone else is a second class citizen….so does it matter?
It’s just that due to the practicality of having academic discussions, we have ‘terms’ to define groups of people who share some essential characteristics.
However because people are complex creatures, people in one sub-group may share the essential characteristics of those in another sub-group. So these terms are in no way clear cut.
I mean even with race in the real world. How much % of what race do you need to be qualified to belong to that race? To be considered white do you have to prove that you have no other racial mixture in you? Or is having white skin enough?
Or you can look at it from the other side. Does having a white mother take away a child’s right to say he’s black?
Where do we draw the line?
Is the line even important?
I personally don’t think it is.
(Is this spam?)
June 29th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I am not really trying to redefine the term; I want to mostly know the borders to know where I stand so I can explain myself easier to others and define myself to myself. I’m not sure how to explain but its not that I am trying to fit the term into me but more like see which terms I fit into. Like I said before, I am going through a slight identity crisis right now so I need defining terms.
I am not trying to say that others must or cannot label themselves nor am I trying to label anyone but myself… And that is, once again, just to see if it could help me with my identity.
I am not religious so being defined as a gods child doesn’t do much; nor do I feel like my nationalities or cultures define me all by themselves..
ayako, you’re right in that a person is himself or herself no matter the labels
but how am I to define my identity to others without them? They are unavoidable in most societies because labeling is part of their culture …
(Is this spam?)