A school can be like a microcosm of the world, where a complex web of culture and power plays itself out on a daily basis. How do we dig through those layers of culture and power, when we are already part of the system as teachers and leaders in the school? In this keynote, Danau challenges us to dismantle the internalized structures in our own minds to enable us to ask uncomfortable questions that will better equip us as educators.
She will take us through her own journey of untangling the web in her own mind while researching at an international school in Indonesia. She will also show us how that process helped reveal the ‘hidden curriculum’ that had been obscuring the real, underlying issues at the school in areas such as classroom engagement, campus social life, developing international mindedness, supporting transitions due to international moves, and so on. This keynote will help us see old problems in new ways to find better ways to ask questions in our practice and, ultimately, to better support our students.
How does mobility impact children from the Global South? In this exploratory webinar, Dr Danau Tanu and Pradeep Rajendran will take a postcolonial approach to explore the experiences of children from Indonesia, India, Nigeria and Kenya who grew up moving around without financial and passport privilege.
Whether they move internationally or within national borders or both, many share the experience of feeling culturally ‘in-between’ as is commonly highlighted in dominant narratives of ‘Third Culture Kids (TCKs)’. Many are also passionate about becoming cultural bridges.
However, these cross-cultural experiences are deeply influenced by the cultural and political legacies of colonialism. Global economic inequalities, including the lack of passport privilege, also means that they experience severe disruptions in their education, family relations, and their physical, social and economic well-being.
How do the stories from postcolonial countries fit into or challenge existing TCK narratives? How can we use a ‘third culture’ perspective to further our understanding of mobility more broadly? We hope to create space for us to explore diverse narratives of childhood mobility in a way that takes into account its complexities.
The webinar will be followed by a time for Q&A and open discussion.
Speakers
Dr Danau Tanu is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Asian Migrations (IAM), Waseda University in Japan. She is an anthropologist and author of Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School. As a child, Danau moved with her family, speaking Indonesian, Japanese and Chinese (Mandarin) at home and English at school. Her research interests include youth, mobility, identity, multicultural/international education, and forced migration (refugees). Danau is also a Co-Founder of TCKs of Asia.
Pradeep Rajendran is a writer. In 2021, he started Adult MKs Global, a discussion group that meets online every month to talk about experiences of growing up as children of missionaries. Pradeep himself grew up moving across diverse cultures and languages in India. In May 2024, under the banner of Miila Consulting and Membercare, he and a team of adult MKs organised and facilitated ‘The Discovery Camp‘ in Bangalore, India for ‘youngsters growing up cross culturally (Ages 13-21). Quixote Creatives, his web development company, keeps Pradeep busy, but he makes time for skateboarding and going on road trips with his rescue dog Storm.
Slides
You can download the webinar slides (PDF) by clicking the button below.
Time: 7am PST・Los Angeles | 10am EST・New York | 12pm noon São Paulo | 4pm CET・Vienna & Lagos | 6pm Nairobi | 8:30pm IST・ Bengaluru | 11pm Hong Kong | See other Time Zones
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