This study examines the life histories of four Adult Cross-Cultural Kids (ACCKs), from various racial and geographical backgrounds, to answer the following research question. For effective practice in global education, what can we learn from exploring the education and lived experiences of ACCKs? Participants were ACCKs, which means they experienced two or more cultures, and two or more educational systems throughout their developmental years, that is between the ages of 0 and 18 years. Goodson’s Life History Interview methodology was adopted in this study to understand the positive and negative influences each participant faced within education. The participants’ personal dynamics on education were examined through their narrative, with a specific focus on what education was like and what a global education meant for them. The main themes that emerged from the life histories were school culture and workforce, and representation in education and media. There was an underlying intersectionality of race, skin colour and class, with a cultural bias, towards the West and whites or light-skinned, embedded within the educational system, teaching workforce and learning culture. The findings of this study highlight the problems when developing global education. Subsequently, there is a need for creating equality of race, skin colour and class within curricula, teaching and the learning culture.

1. UNCOVERING THE
KNOWLEDGE BOX:
EXPLORING ADULT
CROSS-CULTURAL KIDS’
PERSPECTIVES OF
EDUCATION TO DEVELOP
GLOBAL EDUCATION
Dhanishtha Patel
University College London,
UK
Institute of Education
IDSP Competition 2020
London, 23rd July 2020

2. INTRODUCTION
Globalisation:
Globalisation is “what happens when the
movement of people, goods, or ideas among
countries and regions accelerates”
(Coatsworth, 2004, p.38).
Global Education:
No coherent understanding of global
citizenship, nor how to educate global citizens,
and little guidance on how to implement
internationalist ideals (Schmidt & May, 2014).
Adult Cross-Cultural Kid (ACCK):
“a person who is living/has lived in – or
meaningfully interacted with – two or more
cultural environments for a significant period
of time during the first eighteen years of life”
(Reken, 2002).
Exploratory Research for
Global Education
Does education need to
change?

3. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
RQ: What can we learn from exploring education and lived
experiences of ACCKs to develop global education?
Life History Interview methodology was used to understand the
positive and negative influences individuals have faced within
education.
Intersectionality was the theoretical framework.
Research approach: Qualitative
Research type: Primary
Research paradigm: Participatory

4. DATA COLLECTION
Population: ACCKs – from various racial and
geographical backgrounds. have been in two or
more education systems throughout their
developmental years (0-18 years) and experienced
two or more cultures, finished secondary school in
the past 5 years.
Sampling strategy: Opportunity sampling
Sample size: 4
Data format: audio recordings transcribed
Data Collection method:
DC 1: Unstructured interview – prompts provided
DC 2: Participant report reading
Participants
Participant Gender Age* Nationality Countries lived in**
AS Female 22 Indian UAE, UK
LS Male 18 Costa-Rican Costa Rica, France, USA, UK
EM Male 20 Half Japanese, half
Welsh
Japan, UK
QR Male 23 Scottish UK, France, Australia, UAE
Note
*Age at the time of the interview
**between 0-18 years old, and for more than 3 months

5. DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis methods:
DA: Thematic analysis (DC 1 & 2)
Process:
- Participants explored education, socio-cultural differences and inequalities within their history,
through an inquiry-based method (i.e. unstructured interview)
- Thematic analysis of the transcription
- Participant report was created (with themes, quotes and framing) and corroborated by the
participant to ensure a true depiction of their story and themes
- There was an underlying intersectionality of race, skin colour and class within the participants’
education and lived experiences discovered through analysis

6. FINDINGS
Cultural inequality
“Anyone who's fair skinned and
Caucasian, doesn't have to be English, it
could be Swedish or Norwegian, [et
cetera], [they] will get paid more. You
have more negotiating power if you
come from an English speaking, British
or European country, compared to if I
had more qualifications but I came from
India.” (AS)
Global Education
“For me, it's not having your head stuck
in the sand.” (LS)
“I think if you didn't just study England
and showed the breadth of the world,
that would make people travel more. I
think [it is important to look at
differences and commonalities of
different cultures and countries].” (EM)
“you don't talk about other cultures’
successes or failures. You only talk
about one culture, [the British], and
where that culture has been.” (AS)
Cultural Bias
“I'm trying to say that the curriculum is
[whitewashed].” (AS)
Lack of/Negative Representation
“Most of the people, [in my school in Surrey, UK], had
no idea about Asian culture. Never been with someone
from East Asia or knew anything about it. [They]
probably [have views on different countries] the same
as most wealthy people in the UK. Africa, they
probably think is just a shit hole. South America is
where they sell drugs. East Asia is huge cities, and
everyone looks the same, like China. I think that's
probably what they think. They wouldn't have travelled
to East Asia, most of them.” (EM)
F1: Every participant in this study described cultural inequality
and bias within the curricula, teaching methods and educational
workforce
F2: The main emergent themes were school culture and
workforce, and representation (education and media).
Limitation: There was a lack of diversity for ethnicity, gender
and skin colour, as three participants were Caucasian (EM is half
Caucasian), male and white.
Recommendation: This study further expresses the need for
systematic, institutional and social change globally.

7. REFERENCES
Coatsworth, J. H. (2004). Globalization, growth, and welfare in
history. Globalization: Culture and education in the new millennium, 38-55.
Schmidt, Volker H. & May, Tiffany. (2014). Educating Global Citizens.
10.1007/978-3-658-02439-0_3.
Pollock, D. C., Van Reken, R. E., & Pollock, M. V. (2010). Third Culture Kids:
The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds: The original, classic book
on TCKs. Hachette UK.
Goodson, I. (2001). The story of life history: Origins of the life history
method in sociology. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and
Research, 1(2), 129-142.

8. FUNDING
Importance
Understanding the underlying school learning
culture lends an opportunity for change
directed towards a goal for global education.
Notwithstanding the relatively limited sample,
this study offers valuable insight to develop
global education.
Benefit
Increasing diversity and intercultural
competence within the school workforce at
every level is a dire need for the global world.
The findings suggest for transformation of
educational systems, with a focus on the
equality of race, skin colour and class.
Diversity needs to be embedded within the curricula, from the educators to the perspectives
presented.
“There's no change. There's no diversity… You’re oppressing knowledge. There's just
a limited knowledge box and you just move in that” (Participant AS)