Raising the awareness of shortfalls of transition programs in international schools: From the perspective of a third culture kid

The rise of globally mobile families has led to an increase in the number of students enrolling at international schools. The students’ parents expect these schools to provide a comparable education to what a student would receive in their home or passport country, but as Third Culture Kids, these students may face additional challenges compared with domestic students. This paper, focusing on one student’s lived experience, comes from a larger doctoral research project focusing on the lived experience of English speaking Third Culture Kids who attend an international school where although the language of instruction is English, the language spoken by most of the students is not. Schools need to consider how they support Third Culture Kids and what strategies would ensure the transition experience is a positive one. By talking directly to the students, this interpretative phenomenological analysis research will specifically explore how, from Third Culture Kids’ perspective, schools have supported their transition into a new international school. The paper discusses themes that international schools should consider when dealing with Third Culture Kids including managing the expectations of both the parents and the students. The paper also offers suggestions an international school could adopt that will improve the experience of a Third Culture Kid before they arrive at the school and after they begin as a student. This paper seeks to raise awareness of the negative experience encountered by Third Culture Kids through the voice of one of those students.