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.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:20 am
The Nomad: I’d just use the term CCK then which is a broader term. Every TCK is a CCK anyway - and CCK is easier to understand than TCK to a normal person.
Cross Culture Kid just makes more sense than Third Culture Kid.
Even in these forums we’ve had confused people asking about Fourth Culture Kids because they thought it was about the number of cultures they were exposed to which is not the case.
I could be wrong, but there is no such thing as a Fourth or Fifth Culture Kid as of now.
My advice is to use the term that’s easier to understand: CCK
If not, you can study this page where how the definition of TCK has changed is being discussed as well as its slightly differente definitions according to scholars, in ‘Origins and Research’:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Culture_Kids
Although my advice is to use CCK you can call yourself anything you want in reality so long as you’re ok with it.
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