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Free Webinar “Supporting the Wellbeing of Third Culture Kids”

The University of Edinburgh in collaboration with ‘Forces Children Scotland’ and the ‘Scottish Council of Independent Schools’ will be hosting a webinar with a series of presentations to share knowledge and lived experiences of supporting Third Culture Kids’ wellbeing and growing up internationally from a psychological perspective. The term “Third Culture Kids” (TCKs) describes children who have spent significant periods of their formative years in a country other than their passport country, or a different culture than their parents. The event will be of interest to parents, teachers and school counsellors to engage in an open conversation to share knowledge and increase awareness about supporting TCKs’ wellbeing. To sign up for the free webinar, please register here: https://tck_webinar.eventbrite.co.uk.

Speakers and Presentations:

Dr Laura Cariola, University of Edinburgh — “Third Culture Kids’ use of digital technology and wellbeing”

Katie Rigg, Council of International Schools — “Managing pressures in the transition to university”

Laura Falconer, Forces Children Scotland — “What can we do to help?”

Amanda Pilmore-Bedford, University of Edinburgh — “The pitfalls of parenting TCK’s and ways we can overcome them – from the perspective of a parent”

Kirti Devnani, Psychforthought/University of Edinburgh — “Reframing questions, open communication and skilled support rooted in understanding the complexities that TCKs experience”

Rebecca Pohl, American School of Warsaw/University of Edinburgh — Building a RAFT: Preparing students and families for transition”

Tom Hughes, University of Edinburgh — “The advantage of being a TCK”

There will be also a discussion to share knowledge and experiences on supporting TCKs’ mental wellbeing.

eNurture project “Third Culture Kids’ Digital Environments and Mental Health”

The project team is so excited to have get started on this eNurture UKRI/ESRC funded project to explore “Third Culture Kids’ Digital Environments and Mental Health”

Project Team

Lead applicant: Dr Laura Cariola, University of Edinburgh

Co-applicants/partners:
Dr Kareena McAloney-Kocaman, Glasgow Caledonian University
Dr Billy Lee, University of Edinburgh
Laura Falconer, Forces Children Scotland
Katie Rigg, Council of International Schools

Project summary
The term “Third Culture Kid” (TCK) describes children whose parents are in globally mobile employment, such as members of the armed forces, missionaries, and intergovernmental employees (Pollock & Van Reken, 1999/2009). TCKs accompany their parents, resulting in a transnational lifestyle that is constantly in flux. As such, TCKs tend to have unstable in-person networks with often only their parents as a constant in their lives. To maintain a sense of belonging and connectivity with their peers who share similar lived experiences, TCKs largely rely on digital technologies, including social media. Using an online-facilitated community-based participatory approach to better understand a largely under-researched youth population, we aim to answer the following research questions:

  • How do TCKs engage and negotiate the interplay between online and in-person support networks?

  • Specifically, how do TCKs use and experience digital technology differently to mono-cultural children?

  • How do TCKs perceive the risks and opportunities of using digital technology, and how can these risks be minimised and the benefits enhanced?

  • How do TCKs experience the relationship between their use of digital technologies and their mental health?

  • What training do families and professionals need to support TCKs’ safe use of digital technologies and positive mental health?

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