Year of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Name

International Educational Leadership

Department or School/College

Phyllis J. Washington College of Education

Committee Chair

John Matt

Commitee Members

William P. McCaw, Liqin (Shirley) Tang, Emily Sallee, Eliza Sorte-Thomas

Keywords

Identity, Identity Belonging Rootlessness, Inquiry-based, Multicultural, Third Culture Kids, Visual Art Education

Abstract

Globalization has changed education, how external influences in our world make us who we are, and how we identify ourselves. Changes caused by globalization have had psychological consequences that have made formulating one’s identity more challenging than ever before, especially for a third culture kid (TCK) who lives a multicultural lifestyle and may attend a different school every year.

One developmentally appropriate way of reducing the adverse outcomes for TCKs is through visual art education. Engagement in genuine inquiry and creation through the process of making, perceiving, and reflecting provides students an opportunity to investigate their multicultural, mobile, and fluid lives, and therefore, they can begin to identify and form a sense of self.

This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to develop a rich understanding of the essence of the lived experiences that TCKs have while successfully completing an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program (DP) in Visual arts. The design of this study condensed individual experiences of the phenomenon of IB DP Visual arts students into a composite description of the essence of the experience for all individuals interviewed. Data for this study included an online survey and the typical long interview.

Through data analysis, four categories emerged: Personal Connections, Childhood Memories, Visual Representation of Structured Memories, and Insights Discovered Through the Learning Journey. Engagement in an inquiry-based visual arts program allowed TCKs to explore and navigate their own identities, feelings of belonging, understanding of where they are from, feelings of rootlessness, and feelings of hidden loss. Participants in this study shared that during their two-year experience completing the IB DP Visual arts course they looked back on their childhood memories to inform the artworks they were creating for their final exhibition.

TCKs weave personal connections into the artworks they create. Participants in this study gained confidence and felt proud of the work they produced for the final exhibition. An inquirybased visual arts program positively impacts TCKs because the experience fosters a personal exploration and results in feeling confident about who they are and where they come from.

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© Copyright 2025 Jemina Watstein