Browsing by Author "Nykänen, Jamina"

The cultural identity and social relationships of a Third Culture Kid (TCK) has been researched in the recent decade. However, it is relevant to study more about the extraordinary experience of TCKs from their own point of view, which is the aim of this study. TCKs’ perceptions of their identity, identification and their becoming interculturally competent through their experiences deserve its own study. The aim of this study is to view how TCKs identify themselves when they return back home to Finland and to the Finnish culture after spending many years abroad or being brought up in a multicultural family in Finland. In addition, it is important to view how they percept their multicultural background and their international experiences and how they describe their sense of belonging and otherness as well as their intercultural growth. Phenomenography was used as the research strategy in this case study of four adult TCKs. The adult TCKs were interviewed and asked to write an autobiography discussing their feelings and experiences as a multicultural person with an international life experience. The data was first analysed with qualitative content analysis and then with phenomenographic analysis to create descriptive categories common to phenomenography. The adult TCKs have experienced difficulties with identification as it is complex and multidimensional. Identity and identification are involved with the senses of belonging and otherness. In this study cultural and social identity are tangled together in the narratives of the adult TCKs. The participants haven’t felt being attached to just one identity, a community or a group. Instead they described various senses of belonging and otherness. This study shows how these various feelings reflect how identity and identification are strongly attached to the context. The participants discuss their intercultural competence through their attitudes, cultural knowledge and social skills. The adult TCKs consider that they have learned from their cultural encounters. Through their experiences they have collected knowledge and skills to understand and respect people from different origins. Their own multicultural backgrounds have led them to examine their thoughts and attitudes and thus to develop their intercultural competence.