Welcome to
Third Culture Kids: Gaining
Cultural Competence

We have developed this Interactive Collaborative Web-Based (ICWB) model to assist you in increasing your self-awareness and TCK-awareness, your knowledge about the challenges that TCKs face, and your skills to work with the TCKs and their families. This is a six-week course that contains six modules. Each module contains five sections:  a World Map, Assignments, World Class Activities, a Global Lounge, and Resources. As you visit each module weekly, make sure you first read the World Map page. The world map gives you an overview of the content and the assignments for the week. In Assignments, you will find a list of the weekly readings, activities, and assignments for the module. The World Class Activities page provides you with enrichment activities to expand your knowledge about the topic focused upon for the week. The Global Lounge is a Blog. It will serve as our main source for communication for the course. It is most beneficial if you post the beginning of the week and then visit the Global Lounge several times throughout the week to interact with your colleagues. The Resource page will provide you with a list of links and resources you can use in you current or future practice.

At the conclusion of this course, we hope that you will:

• Increase your self-awareness by participating in a self-reflection activity on a blog.
• Reflect upon your cultural background and how it influences your interactions and beliefs about the TCK culture.
• Understand the Third Culture Kid culture by participating in readings and dialogues with TCKs.
• Understand the challenges and benefits inherent in the Third Culture Kid culture.
• Develop practical skills to assist Third Culture Kids with issues of belonging, identity, transition, and grief and loss.
• Develop a tool of your choice to be used with Third Culture Kids in your current or future work.

We are excited that you have decided to participate in this course.