Language & Landmarks: Third Culture Kids

Culture is fascinating! Did you know that children of business expatriates who accompany their parents on overseas assignments follow a fairly predictable path in their adult life? One of the most common characteristics that they share is a much higher rate of university and post graduate degrees than the norm. At least two-thirds of these kids feel it is important to have an international dimension in their lives and a good number of them, unlike their teen counterparts, feel in touch with events happening outside of the U.S. According to Samuel L. Britton of TCK World these children are called “Third Culture Kids”. He defines them as individuals who” have spent a significant part of the developmental years in a culture other than that of their parents, and develop a sense of relationship to both.” They have usually experienced difficult times adjusting first to that foreign culture and then again back home. They report feeling out of place wherever they go because they are not exactly like their peers, so they learn to adapt. Their cultural “lenses” are multi-colored and they eventually have strong opinions about the global village in which they have traveled and lend themselves in unique and creative ways to the world. Certainly individual responses vary to an international assignment, but the potential for outstanding personal growth is enormous. Assisting these children and their families before and after their expat experience can be very critical in tapping the benefits that come with being a Third Culture Kid.

 

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