What is a
Third Culture Kid?
What is a TCK?
Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are people raised in a culture other than their parents’ or the culture of their country of nationality and live in a different environment during a significant part of their child development years.
TCKs move between cultures before they have had the opportunity to develop their personal and cultural identity fully. The first culture of such individuals refers to the culture of the country from which the parents originated. The second culture refers to the culture in which the family currently resides. Finally, the third culture refers to the distinct cultural ties among all third culture individuals that share no connection to the first two cultures.
typical characteristics of tcks
While none of the characteristics describe every TCK this list looks at the general characteristics of many TCKs
- Highly adaptive
- Able to cross cultures with ease
- More open minded
- More empathetic
- Multilingual
- Better at communication with people from various age groups
- Constant transition
- Culture shock
- Feeling no sense of belonging
- Lack of close relationships
- Managing absurd questions
Our homes are not defined by geography or one particular location, but by memories, events, people, and places that span the globe.
~ Marilyn Gardner
Additional Info about TCKs
Click on the links below to check out these additional websites, books, and other media about TCKs
- WHAT IS A TCK?
- Third Culture Kids: Prototypes for Understanding Other Cross-Cultural Kids (Van Reken)
- Third Culture Kids 3rd Edition: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds
- Raising Up a Generation of Healthy Third Culture Kids: A Practical Guide to Preventive Care (Wells)
- Navigating life as a third culture kid: TEDxYough@ISPrague (Schdeva)
- TCKs, GOODBYES AND TRANSITION
- How to Say Goodbye Using SHIP
- Good Goodbyes For Third Culture Kids (Rylee B.)
- A RAFT for Transitioning through Uncertainty and Disruption
- Being a Rootless TCK: TEDxUofL (Self)
- TCKs AND GRIEF
- The Grief Tower: A Practical Guide to Processing Grief with TCKs (Wells)
- TCKs: The impact of growing up in a globalized world: TEDxINSEAD (Van Reken)
- Unresolved Grief - Hidden Losses of a Third Culture Kid (May)
- Bringing Your TCK's "Hidden Losses" Out of Hiding (Wells)
