Category: Featured appearances

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What’s the real problem? Can you see it?

CIS I-DEA FOUNDATION WORKSHOP: KEYNOTE DAY 3
13-15 SEPtember 2022.

This is the e-handout for the Keynote for Day 3 of the CIS Inclusion via Diversity, Equity & Anti-Racism Foundation Workshop held on 13-15 September 2022.

It includes the resources mentioned in the presentation, slide deck, and additional resources.

Poster: Keynote Speaker. What's the real problem? Can you see it? Dr. Danau Tanu, Japan Foundation Research Fellow, Waseda University, Japan

Description

Racism affects all students. We are all complicit in it. But how? In this keynote, I am inviting you to engage in a paradigm shift that will help reveal the way structural racism infiltrates the student experience—even in areas that may seem unrelated.

The ‘hidden curriculum’ often obscures the ‘real’, underlying issues in areas such as international transitions (including repatriation), student engagement, school-parent relations, campus social life, academic learning, and so on.

I hope that this keynote will help us see old problems in new ways and be better equipped to support students.

Aims

To challenge us to think of old ‘problems’ in new ways by:

  • rethinking the frameworks we use to analyse ‘problems’
  • ensuring fairness in the way we use these frameworks or categories
  • understanding that it is okay to address ‘the ugly’ in our hearts
  • understanding that racism affects all students
Image of an iceberg. The tip is above the water surface but most of it is submerged. The tip is labeled 'International mindedness' and the submerged portion is labeled 'hidden curriculum'
The Hidden Curriculum. Adapted from graphics designed by Mifune Takashi at irasutoya.com. Graphics copyright: Mifune Takashi.

Slide deck

The slide deck from the workshop is available in PDF format.

DOWNLOAD SLIDES

Resources

The resources mentioned in the keynote address are listed below in order of appearance.

Main text: Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School. Danau Tanu, 2018. 

Racism in international education. Growing Up in Transit - in paperback poster

Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, 3rd Edition. David Pollock, Dr. Ruth E. Van Reken and Michael Pollock, 2017.

Safe Passage: How mobility affects people & what international schools should do about it. Doug Ota, 2014.

Misunderstood: The Impact of Growing Up Overseas in the 21st Century. Tanya Crossman, 2016. See also www.tanyacrossman.com

Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey – An award-winning film by Elizabeth Liang.

Poster: Hapalis Prods presents Elizabeth Liang's Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey. Directed by Sofie Calderon. Photo of Liang in black shirt and pointing. Logos of three awards.
Alien Citizen by Elizabeth Liang

‘Third Culture Kids: The Return Home’ by Tim Brantingham in Sandwich Parenting.

Additional resources

TCKs of Asia live forums & podcast.

TCKs of Asia w team profile pics

For more resources, see here.

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What’s the real problem? Can you see it?

CIS I-DEA foundation workshop: keynote day 3

This is the e-handout for the Keynote for Day 3 of the CIS Inclusion via Diversity, Equity & Anti-Racism Foundation Workshop held on 17-19 March 2022.

It includes the resources mentioned in the presentation, slide deck, and additional resources.

Poster: Keynote Speaker. What's the real problem? Can you see it? Speaker bio. Dr. Danau Tanu

Description

Racism affects all students. We are all complicit in it. But how? In this keynote, Dr. Danau Tanu challenges us to a paradigm shift that lays bare the way structural racism infiltrates the student experience even in areas that seem unrelated.

She shows how the ‘hidden curriculum’ can obscure the real, underlying issues in areas such as international transitions (including repatriation), classroom engagement, campus social life, academic learning, and so on.

Her keynote will help us see old problems in new ways and be better equipped to support students.

Aims

To challenge us to think of old ‘problems’ in new ways by:

  • rethinking the frameworks we use to analyse ‘problems’
  • ensuring fairness in the way use these frameworks or categories
  • understanding that it is okay to address ‘the ugly’ in our hearts
  • understanding that racism affects all students
Image of an iceberg. The tip is above the water surface but most of it is submerged. The tip is labeled 'International mindedness' and the submerged portion is labeled 'hidden curriculum'
The Hidden Curriculum. Adapted from graphics designed by Mifune Takashi at irasutoya.com. Graphics copyright: Mifune Takashi.

Slide deck

The slide deck from the workshop is available in PDF format.

DOWNLOAD SLIDES

Resources mentioned

The resources mentioned in the keynote address are listed below in order of appearance.

Main text: Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School. Danau Tanu, 2018. 

Racism in international education. Growing Up in Transit - in paperback poster

Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, 3rd Edition. David Pollock, Dr. Ruth E. Van Reken and Michael Pollock, 2017.

Safe Passage: How mobility affects people & what international schools should do about it. Doug Ota, 2014.

ISC Research: The international school student profile – The 2021 Report

Misunderstood: The Impact of Growing Up Overseas in the 21st Century. Tanya Crossman, 2016. See also www.tanyacrossman.com

‘Third Culture Kids: The Return Home’ by Tim Brantingham in Sandwich Parenting.

Additional resources

TCKs of Asia live forums & podcast.

TCKs of Asia w team profile pics

For more resources, see here.

Postscript

Someone asked during the live keynote session: ‘What is inspiring you these days?’ A: I’ve been taking a lot of inspiration from this.

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Creating an Inclusive International Curriculum

25 November 2021 – This is an online handout for Training 2 for the International School of Geneva.

  • What does creating a truly inclusive international curriculum look like?
  • How can we ensure the curriculum helps students feel ‘seen’?
  • How do we decolonise the curriculum?

Slides

The slide deck from ‘Training 2: Creating an Inclusive International Curriculum’ is available in PDF format.

DOWNLOAD SLIDES

Past session – Training 1: TCKs & Diversity

If you missed it, see the online handout (August 2021)

Optional readings

These three short, easy-to-read articles offer a brief introduction to the core topics.

These articles include extracts from Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School. You can also download the free introduction.

Self-reflexivity. Photo of a person in a forest holding a mirror – from Unsplash

Resources from the session

I mentioned other resources during the presentation but I’ve only included those that are most relevant for international educators or are easy to read/watch. The more subject specific resources can be found on the slides for those interested.

Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, 3rd Edition – Pollock, Van Reken & Pollock (2017)

Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging – Danau Tanu (2018, 2020)

Decolonising Education: From Theory to Practice – A free and easy-to-do online course offered by the University of Bristol. It includes subject specific discussions. (RECOMMENDED)

Reflexivity in Anthropology – a summary

Edward Said on Orientalism (video)

Review of Nurturing Indonesia: Medicine and Decolonisation in the Dutch East Indies (2018) in New Mandala.

Learning to Labour: How working class kids get working class jobs – Paul Willis (1977)

The Global Imaginary of International School Communities – Heather A. Meyer (2021)

Representation Matters: Why Students Need to See Themselves in Your Classroom – in ReadTheory

Why Representation in Classroom Books is Important: Culturally Inclusive Books – Valentina Gonzalez (2019)

Tanya Crossman is author of Misunderstood: The Impact of Growing Up Overseas in the 21st Century and expert on TCKs who shared the story about the Polish student with me. See her website and list of recommended resources.

Concepts

Self-reflexivity
  • Context
  • Positionality
  • Objectivity
Essentialism
  • Am I prescribing immutable descriptions to people groups?
Dichotomous analyses
  • Am I prescribing immutable differences between people groups?
Interconnectivity – of events happening at the same time
  • How are events that occur in different parts of the globe interlinked?
  • What does the same event look like from a different perspective?
Continuity
  • How are the past & present interlinked?
  • What are the cultural legacies of colonialism?
  • How do they appear today?
Power relations
  • Whose perspective does it represent?
  • What is their relation to the historical, social and cultural context?
  • Do they benefit from it?
  • Whose perspective is missing in relation to power?
Mirror
  • (See this article)
  • Who is missing?
  • Can students see themselves in the curriculum?
  • Can they relate to the reflection that they see?
  • Does the reflection they see build and empower them?

Summary questions

  • What is the historical, social and cultural context of the material? How does that influence the way we present the material?
  • Whose perspective is being represented?
  • Will students feel ‘seen’? Will they feel empowered?
  • Who is missing? Why?

Additional resources

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TCKs of Asia: Language, Family & Power – #FIGT2021

I’ll be speaking on a panel with four others at the Families in Global Transition Virtual Conference 2021.

TCKs of Asia: Language, Family & Power
‘TCKs of Asia: Language, Family & Power’ at the Families in Global Transition Conference, 12-14 March

TCKs of Asia: Language, Family & Power

We’re quite proud of this panel. We’ll talk about aspects of the Third Culture Kid experience that are rarely talked about.

We’ll talk about how the experience of mobility in childhood varies depending on their backgrounds – cultural, linguistic, racial, class and so on.

The panel is made up of Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Indonesian-Japanese TCKs. So, we’ll also touch upon a topic that is considered sensitive in the region. The elephant in the room.

We’ll talk about the way the history of the region affects how children interact with each other.

As adults, it’s important that we set an example on how to maintain friendships & connect meaningfully even when we are from different sides of history. I’m particularly proud of how we cover this.

And by ‘we’, I mean:

Isabelle Min, CEO & Founder of Transition Catalyst Korea (TCK) Institute and former radio host and television broadcaster for KBS. Founder of FIGT Korea Affiliate.

Aiko Minematsu, Co-Founder of the FIGT Japan Affiliate & a university lecturer in Tokyo

Saeko Mizuta, Founder & CEO of TCK Workshop. Co-Founder of FIGT Japan Affiliate

Danau Tanu, Research Fellow and author of Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School 

Jane W. Wang, Founder & Coach at Multicultural Hero’s Journey 

Hope to see you at the conference! Also, lookout for the TCK Coffee & Connect sessions in the conference community rooms.

To register for the Families in Global Transition Conference 2021, visit their website here.

Conference registrations close on March 10. Pre-conference Forums have started.

*By the way, ‘Power Panel’ sounds rather grand but it’s the name of the type of panel at the conference.

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AIELOC’s 2021 Book Club on Growing Up in Transit

AIELOC is starting an online Book Club in January 2021 where they will read Growing Up in Transit.

Growing Up in Transit is based on my doctoral research about the systemic racism at work in international schools. It draws heavily on student voices, with a special focus on the Asian TCK (third culture kid) experience.

Don’t worry, I won’t be joining – that way you can critique the book all you want! 🙂

To join the Book Club, e-mail AIELOC at AIELOC2019@gmail.com or click here.

If you don’t already have a copy of Growing Up in Transit, click below to get 25% off on the paperback. The promo code is valid until the end of January 2021.

BUY THE BOOK

While it is called the Association for International Educators and Leaders of Color, you don’t have to be a ‘person of color’ or an international educator to join. All are welcome.

Other AIELOC events

AIELOC is also organising a community discussion on how to end racism and discrimination in the international school community on January 16. It looks like a great initiative.

To register, click here.

They are also creating new space for Black women in international schools.

For more information about AIELOC and their events, please visit their website at www.aieloc.org or their Webinar & Events page.