THIRD CULTURE KIDS ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT - NOLL

Third Culture Kids Action Research Project

Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership

and Postsecondary Education

University of Northern Iowa

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the

Masters of Arts in Education

by

Katherine L. Noll

American School of Dubai

Dubai, U.A.E.

(October 10, 2017)

Dr. Tammy Gregersen

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Abstract

This study was conducted to explore the feelings around a sense of home, rootlessness and

restlessness in adult TCKs in comparison to non-TCKs and TCAs. The study was conducted via submission

of a survey sent out to TCKs and non-TCKs alike. A comparison of results was completed to check for

significant differences in the responses, as well as analyzing qualitative feedback for trends. It was found that

there are many similarities between the feelings about where home is between TCKs and TCAs, as well as

the groups having increased levels of rootlessness and restlessness. In many categories, non-TCKs felt a

stronger connection to home and experienced less restless and rootlessness. There was an interesting

finding around feelings that will come later in life, which are thought to be based on childhood experiences, or

lack thereof.

Introduction

Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are those that have spent the majority of their childhood or adolescence

outside of their home country. There is much research which has been done on the TCK experience: how

TCKs feel in their home country and when they are outside their home country, their ability to form

relationships and feelings of restlessness and rootlessness which are apparent with the TCK lifestyle.

Rootlessness is feeling that there is a lack of a true home. Often times, for a TCK, home can be more

of an emotional place, a feeling of security, comfort, and somewhere that is familiar. According to Pollock and

Van Reken, sometimes home is a physical place, but this is more common when a TCK has lived in one

location for most of their adolescence. Many TCKs experience the loss of home, the loss of connection to a

place and they find themselves feeling at home nowhere.

Restlessness is common in TCKs and can be thought of as the desire to be migratory or nomadic, to

move and/or travel after a certain period of time in one place. The idea that a place in the future will become

home and a rooted feeling will arise is often not the case, causing a lifelong restlessness in each place a TCK

finds themselves. They are continually searching for a feeling of connection that keeps them on the move.

The purpose of this study was threefold: To collect information on feelings of rootlessness and

restlessness in adult TCKs (ATCKs). To determine whether these feelings change after entering adulthood

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and starting a family. To understand how feelings of rootlessness and restlessness influence lifestyle decisions

of adult TCKs. Through the research, there were also relationships seen between TCKs and TCAs (Third

Culture Adults). Through this study it was relevant to include a new category of individuals that share similar

feelings with TCKs, although their third culture experience did not begin until adulthood, hence the phrase,

Third Culture Adult.

Being an ATCK myself, I can relate to the Third Culture Kids, Growing up Among Worlds text and

findings that TCKs experience rootlessness and restlessness. For myself and other adult TCKs those feelings

of rootless and restlessness have continued into adulthood and have influenced our life choices or/and have

created an unwavering longing for something else, for further travel, or for a feeling of home that does not

exist. The curiosity about how widespread these feelings are and how growing up as a TCK ends up

influencing life choices into and through adulthood, begged the question: How do feelings of rootlessness and

restlessness affect the lifestyle of adult TCKs and how do those feelings compare to non-TCKs?

My assumption, based on experience and the work of Pollock & Van Reken, is that most adult TCKs

maintain some feelings of rootlessness and restlessness. I also assume that these feelings influence their

lifestyle in terms of travel, where they live and the relationships they have engaged in.

Data Collection

The data collection process involved a survey posted to my Facebook account which was also shared

by friends on their accounts. I emailed the survey to some of my acquaintances and family, then asked them to

pass it along and post it on their Facebook pages. I then posted the survey to a Google group at the American

School of Dubai. This process allowed me to gather 85 responses, 55 from TCKs and 30 from non-TCKs. Of

the 30 non-TCKs, 24 of them would be considered TCAs due to their time overseas after the age of 20. The

survey pool included 28 males and 57 females. The participants varied in age from 21 years to over 60 years

(Fig 1). For the sake of clarity, I will refer to non-TCPs (non third culture people), when excluding TCAs from

the group being discussed. Many similarities between TCKs and TCAs were found, therefore distinguishing

these groups from non-TCPs will be valuable.

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Figure 1: Age distribution of survey participants shows a bell curve around age range 36-40 years. For non-TCKs there

are higher percentages in three of the five oldest age ranges. In the first four age ranges, TCKs are the most abundant

group.

The survey questions were analyzed through counting the number of responses given by TCKs and

non-TCKs. Sometimes there was a distinction between non-TCKs and TCAs. After the data was converted to

a quantitative form, a check for significance using the N-1 Chi-squared test was performed with percentage of

TCKs and non-TCKs. There was significance found in a few areas, along with trends in written responses,

which will be discussed.

Results

The responses by TCKs, non-TCKs and TCAs were calculated using percent, and then significance

was checked. In the question that read, When someone asks you, where are you from, what is the first

thought to cross your mind? there were two significant differences. The differences can be seen in Figure 2,

and are between the not sure and hometown responses. 19% of TCKs replied that they are not sure where

they are from and 0% of non-TCKs chose this option. Only 5% of TCKs responded with their hometown,

while 23% of non-TCKs chose this option. These are significant differences. Although there were no

non-TCKs that chose the response, where we spent our holidays or where I went to university, the

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difference was not significant. Of the non-TCKs that chose the option, other, many of them stated this was

because they currently live in a different place than where they grew up, so they felt some confusion.

Respondents were told to choose the most accurate representations which led TCKs to choose an average of

1.8 options per person and non-TCKs to choose 1.4 options per person.

Figure 2: The responses regarding the first thought people have when asked, where they are from, ranged. TCKs had

higher responses in five of the ten categories and significance was found between two categories when compared to

non-TCKs.

What does home mean to you? was one of the questions asked. There were no significant differences

between the TCK and non-TCK results here. Both groups had the highest percentage of responses being,

where they currently live, followed by, where they are emotionally comfortable, and where they grew up.

There were great similarities in the qualitative responses as well. The sense of home is incredibly powerful and

more than anything, revolves around where family is. Most respondents stated that where they live feels like

home, as they make it that way. Emotional comfort and where parents live were more noted by TCKs in their

written responses than in non-TCKs. Non-TCKs only noted two options, being, where they currently live and

emotional comfort. TCAs on the other hand, included where they spend summers, where their parents

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live, their current home, where they grew up, and emotional comfort. It is notable that non-TCKs had far

fewer responses than TCKs or TCAs.

When asked whether emotional home is the same as peoples physical home, there were great

similarities between TCKs and TCAs. There was a significant difference between non-TCPs and the other

groups. Approximately of TCKs and TCAs said that their emotional and physical homes are not the same,

while 67% of non-TCP said their emotional and physical sense of home is the same. This is a significant

difference between Third Culture People and non-TCP. (Figure 3)

A follow up question was asked, regarding why their emotional and physical homes are different. There

was no significant difference in responses of individuals that said their emotional and physical home differ.

35% of TCKs said that their physical home is where they are currently living and will change when they move

but they are not emotionally tied to it, while 27% of non-TCKs had the same response. The highest response

for non-TCKs was 35% for feeling emotionally tied to a place they spent a significant amount of their childhood

but it no longer physically feels like home. 25% of TCKs responded this way, while 24% of them responded

with, emotional home being where their parents/family are, no matter the location. Where parents/family are

caused a 15% response from non-TCKs. Although this response is not statistically significant, the written

responses made it apparent that TCKs have a greater relationship between their parents or family and a

feeling of home, and a more emotional sense of home in general. Most non-TCKs did not provide additional

clarification for why their emotional and physical feeling of home is not the same.

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Figure 3: Participants responses to whether their emotional and physical sense of home are the same. There is a

statistical significant difference between the TCK/TCA results and non-TCPs.

Feeling rooted can be described by total comfort, security and familiarity where you are. Rootlessness

can be described as a feeling that one has a lack of true home. Of the 55 TCK responses, an overwhelming

55% stated that they are not sure they will ever feel rooted, while only 13% of non-TCKs feel this way. 37% of

non-TCKs said that they do not quite feel rooted but they are sure that at a later time in their current location

they will feel rooted. (Figure 4) Both of these differences are statistically significant. Of the 18% of TCKs that

say they do feel rooted, most did not supply any clarifying comments. Those that did, said that moving back to

a place they feel an emotional attachment to has allowed them to feel more rooted.

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Figure 4: The majority of TCKs feel as though they may never feel rooted, while there is an overwhelming number of

non-TCKs that either feel fully rooted or have confidence that in their future, they will gain a feeling of rootedness.

Further questions explored whether being married or having a partner has influenced feelings of

rootedness and restlessness. Of the TCKs that are married or have a partner, 28% of them have significant

others that are also TCKs, compared to 12% of non-TCKs. 70% of TCKs said that having a significant other

has influenced their feelings of being rooted, while 62% of non-TCKs had this response. Home is where the

heart is and roots now have to do more with people than geography, summarize some of the common

thoughts around the change in rootedness felt by individuals with significant others. The statistically significant

data was seen in the response about restlessness: 51% of TCKs that were married said they feel less

restless, meaning that 49% of them dont feel any different or feel more restless. Only 27% of married

non-TCKs feel less restless. Another interesting significant difference was that 40% of TCKs do not have

children while only 13% of non-TCKs do not have children. Close to significance is the percent of TCKs that

are married with no kids, 33%, while non-TCKs that are married with no kids is 12%.

A question was then asked about how long after living in a place do people feel restless. The

responses varied with the TCKs responses having a bell shaped curve around the 4-5 year mark, while the

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non-TCK responses did not have that trend. (Figure 5) Of the non-TCPs, 67% said that they never feel

restless, which is significant in comparison to TCKs and TCAs.

Figure 5: Responses regarding the length of time in a location before restlessness sets in can be seen here. There are no

significant differences in the overall comparison between TCKs and non-TCKs.

The last question was about having children and whether that has affected their sense of home. The

results can be seen in Figure 6. The notable aspects of this data are that TCKs feelings of being rooted are

not heavily influenced by having children. 53% of TCKs said they feel more rooted after having children but

47% said they feel no different (the same level of rootlessness). In comparison, 73% of non-TCKs said they

feel more rooted after having children and 27% feel no change, with none saying they feel less rooted. (Figure

6) Some of the common written responses from TCKs that said they feel more rooted - They feel more

connection with community due to their childrens involvement, they want their kids to feel more rooted, they

want to be close to extended family and they want their kids to feel a sense of home that they have never had.

Common responses from TCKs that felt no change: As long as their family is together there is no difference

and they want to give their kids a similar global experience. Non-TCKs that said they feel more rooted after

having children said they feel closer to family and community, they want a homebase for their kids, home is

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where family is, they dont want to feel restless with their children and they feel responsible to provide roots for

their kids.

Figure 6: This graph shows how the feeling of home has changed since TCKs and non-TCKs have had children. There

were 34 TCKs with children and 26 non-TCKs with children. There is significance between the non-TCKs that feel more

rooted and those that dont feel a change.

Evaluation

Through this action research study, there were findings that support Pollock and Van Rekens work, as

well as new comparisons between TCKs and TCAs. The confused and disconnected sense of home that

TCKs feel was evident. Feelings of rootlessness and restless persist in TCKs, even as they enter into

adulthood and begin families of their own. The differences between TCKs and non-TCKs were noticeable.

Through this study, the most striking findings were the similarities between thoughts and feelings of TCKs and

TCAs.

For TCKs, the general thoughts about home can be summed up as more of a feeling inside oneself,

rather than a physical place. It is clear that non-TCP have a secure sense of home, although that may change

a bit as they move within their home country as adults. TCAs sense of home changes as their lives overseas

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become more solidified. One TCK described their feeling of home as, Complicated. I usually feel very much at

home in any of my physical homes because I intentionally make them "homey", a place I want and like to be in.

Emotionally I can feel at home in many places or countries, i.e. I can take my home or create my home in

many different places, even a hotel room. My home both resides inside me and I can also create it. My

emotional home is feeling secure inside myself, with people that feel the same as me, with my immediate

family or with my closest friends. The last statement relates to previous research done by P
ollock and Van

Reken, the sense of home where the feeling of emotional belonging is. This sense can often be found among

others that also have a complicated sense of home or in a more transient environment. There were also

many comments such as, If I had to move I would not feel a physical loss as long as my loved one/ones were

with me. This speaks to the closeness of family and lack of tie to any physical place. The majority of TCKs

spoke about the importance of family and the feeling of home, as long as they are with family. My theory

behind this is that as a TCK, the only constant in our lives growing up was family. Due to this one variable that

always remained, we clung on and often have a deeper connection to our parents or siblings than non-TCKs

do. As TCKs enter adulthood and begin families of their own, that same desire to keep their family close is

strong and will allow them to feel at home wherever their spouse and/or children are. Their connection is to

people, not to physical places, as stated by one TCK, Emotionally I am at home where my children and

husband are but it changes physically. The majority of non-TCKs referenced home as being a physical place,

a city, state, or structure. For non-TCKs, the emotional connection is just as much or more with the physical

location as it is with the people that are there.

Home elicits several different meanings for TCKs and far narrower meaning for non-TCKs. TCKs

definition of home is similar to that of TCAs. The idea of a hometown is strong with non-TCKs, as is the

sense that TCKs feel they are not sure where they are from. The significance was vast when looking at TCP

and their emotional and physical sense of home being so different, whereas non-TCP felt the same emotional

connection to their physical home. The difference between TCKs and TCAs came through the written

comments, which can be captured in this statement: Now I have my own family so it feels as if my life has

been split in two TCKs did not express this feeling about their sense of home being pulled in different

directions due to having their own family. The TCA experience leads more to this internal battle due to a strong

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foundation in a home and then making a choice to move away from that place and those people. Often TCKs

do not have that place which pulls at them. Their pull is more likely to come from wanting their children to

have a sense of home and rootedness they feel they have missed out on.

Over half the TCKs that participated in this study feel as though they may never feel rooted and

approximately half also feel just as restless now as they did before getting married or having a family. This is a

drastic difference from non-TCKs. Even when looking at the 37% of non-TCKs that feel they are not quite

rooted, they think that feeling will come in their current location. This is not the sentiment of TCKs. It is

interesting to note that fewer TCKs believe they will feel at home in their current location seeing as they have

not felt rooted in the past, so it is unlikely that will come later on. Based on experience, or lack of a rooted

experience, TCKs are much more skeptical about ever having that sensation and feeling fully comfortable in

their physical location. Belief or faith that the future will bring something different than has ever been

experienced is not common, nor easily attained, as one does not have a basis for it.

The restlessness TCKs feel can change when they get married and have children but that was not

greatly apparent through this study, although further research should be done. Approximately half the TCK

participants that were married said they feel less restless after being married, leaving the other half feeling no

different. Through the comments, it was clear that the reduced feelings of restlessness came from wanting to

provide more of a sense of home for their children that they lacked. There were extensive similarities in the

responses from TCKs and TCAs about their feelings after having children - w
anting to provide roots for their

kids and have them close to extended family, as well as not wanting their kids to feel restless. This displays the

TCAs understanding of the disconnect between one's home culture after living away for a significant amount of

time. The desire to make sure children do not feel that way was fairly common. The TCKs that do not feel a

difference in restlessness made comments about wanting to give their kids the same global experience that

they had. They also stated, again and again, that as long as they were together as a family, any feelings of

restlessness were not an issue.

The distinct differences in sense of belonging can be summarized by TCKs living with those feelings

through childhood, into adulthood and many through building a family; while non-TCKs may experience some

of these same sensations, they are more grounded in the knowledge that those feelings do not have to exist

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and they can build from a framework of rooted experience. TCKs are not pulled in two directions, between

home and life abroad...they are continually searching for a feeling of connection that they have known through

relationships but cannot be found in any location around the plant, which keeps them on the move, whether it

be physically or within their minds.

As more research is done on TCKs, it will be interesting to explore the impact that restlessness has on

spousal relationships and forming of deep personal relationships in general. In my personal experience, many

of my TCK friends (including myself) are either still single or got married quite late in life. With many of the

TCKs in this study not having children (40%) or being married without children (33%), it would be worth

exploring the deciding factors behind those statistics and if they are representative of the greater TCK

population.

References:

Pollock, D., & Van Reken, R. (2010). Third culture kids: Growing up among worlds. Nicholas Brealey

Publishing.

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