Resource Centre: Library

Children on the Move – Culture Shock

Kirsten Hogh Thogersen Ph.D,
Clinical Psychologist, Beijing United Family Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

How moving can make learning difficulties worse
Several European research projects show that in groups of children and young people living abroad, the gap is widened between those who are academically strong and the other children. We should be aware of the fact that while moving can make academically strong children stronger, it can also put academically weak children at a disadvantage.

Nevertheless, my conclusion is that although a successful transition into a new culture is difficult, it is not impossible and it does have its own rewards. In the following I will focus on how children with learning disabilities and their parents can cope with what can be a very difficult period.

More than 10% of all school children have specific learning difficulties, which means that there is a discrepancy between the child’s ability to learn and his intellectual capacity and motivation. Learning difficulties, especially significant reading problems, are common, and can be continuous and disabling unless properly addressed. Children with specific learning difficulties need both special teaching methods and more time to learn things than other children. Above all, they need continuity if they are to be able to carry out the task in hand.

When these children move to a foreign country and a new school environment their weaknesses will be magnified as they go through what can be a very difficult period of transition. It is debatable whether it is wise to move children with learning disabilities around the world at all, but often there is no choice as more and more parents find work abroad and their children have to accompany them.

Home is a safe haven
Children with learning difficulties function best when they are in a stable and secure environment. Structure and routine are extremely important for them. The familiar school environment does not force change upon a child at too rapid a pace. Children with a weak memory, for example, will have worked very hard to memorise a route through town. They may have finally learned the school rules and regulations by a process of endless repetition. Small things, which may not seem complicated for most children, can be hard-won achievements for the child with specific learning difficulties.

Surprising as it may seem, once something is learned it is learned for good, as long as the child’s environment is stable. Any learning difficulties may not appear all that serious while the surroundings remain familiar and secure.

But when moving abroad, it is not always possible to maintain familiar routines. It is therefore of the greatest importance for the child or young person to be surrounded by people who can identify if and when any learning difficulties arise, and show understanding and acceptance of his particular way of learning.

Understanding and acceptance is often a question of being able to communicate with the child. Typically children with specific learning difficulties are blocked not so much in working things out, but rather in understanding the nature of a problem in the first place and the tasks required to resolve the problem. Sometimes a task will simply have to be broken down into bite-size pieces and presented in a way that the child understands.

The problem of children with specific learning difficulties not measuring up to the demands of the school ought to be turned around: it is more a question of the school having to measure up to the needs of children by providing appropriate teaching.

Culture Shock
Moving to another country qualifies as a major life crisis. It is a disorientating experience for all of us, but particularly for children with specific learning difficulties. The hard learned habits and routines disappear overnight and the child is faced with changes taking place in all areas of his life at the same time.

On top of everything else there is often a change of language, which complicates things further. When everything from street names to the names of friends and teachers has to be learned in a new language, the task can seem daunting – even overwhelming.

Expatriate schools – academics come to the fore
In your home country, it is likely that school is an intrinsic part of the culture in which you live. Abroad, the school is often detached from the surrounding culture. This is especially true for expatriate schools.

As a general rule, expatriate schools pay less attention to the holistic approach in education, whereby the child’s social, emotional and cultural needs are attended to in addition to the academic programme. This only makes the situation worse for children and young people with specific learning difficulties.

Expatriate schools often have high academic standards, tough competition and a heavy workload. If the child cannot read, write and do maths at speed he is at a serious disadvantage, particularly as he is now away from his secure, supportive home environment where he was well-known and his best efforts were valued. Although local teachers may be supportive, they cannot always be counted on to have the qualifications and teaching methodology in special needs to help the child or young person make the transition into a new system successfully. The child with specific learning difficulties can find himself in a stressful situation, overwhelmed by the pressures of having to cope with fast academic performance.

In moving abroad it may be that the child finds himself face to face with his learning difficulties for the first time. As a result he may well feel that the move is the cause of everything that is now going wrong for him. He sees the move as a catastrophe. His parents may also feel at a loss as they watch their child struggle to meet the demands made on him in the new environment. One mother explained that she felt as if her child’s personality slowly changed beyond all recognition as the new school focused exclusively on academic performance, giving no credit to her child’s other obvious strengths and abilities. She would look at her son, Peter, and hardly recognise him for the child she once knew.

I well remember Peter myself. He had difficulty in expressing himself both in speaking and writing and yet he was fully able, indeed gifted, in expressing himself in many other ways. He had an extraordinarily rich imagination and was very creative. He was a natural poet and artist. These qualities are often found in the child with specific learning difficulties: it is as if their imagination is enhanced by their dyslexia. This underlines all the more strongly why it is so important for the school to focus on social and emotional qualities besides academic achievement. When Peter moved abroad, and his old routines disappeared, it was vital for his development to help him find new ways of expressing his exceptional abilities.

It Can be Done
Even though things may seem impossible right after a move, most children learn to cope well in the end. Despite the hurdles, the child in a new setting will have additional opportunities to learn. Ultimately, it can be to the child’s advantage to be extended to reach his full potential and stimulated earlier rather than later in life, especially if the learning process involves the whole personality of the child. Moving can be a positive and stimulating experience; it can teach children and young people to be expressive and aware of their strengths and how to cope with their weaknesses. This is especially true if the child with learning difficulties has been labelled and overprotected before moving; and has not had enough stimulation over a period of time.

It can be only beneficial to the child if his capabilities are successfully extended – and this does happen – maybe even beyond everyone’s expectations. Ironically, what in the first instance appears to be a pressurising educational environment can also be the very catalyst which eventually uncovers the child’s potential. I have seen many encouraging examples of this.

Nonetheless, European children with specific learning difficulties do face a major challenge in moving from their home environment to a new one, and we should all be aware of what they are going through in the process.

A ‘Bill of Rights’ for them might read as follows:

I have the right

• not to justify my existence in this world
• to identify myself differently in different situations
• to receive education according to my needs and not only my level of academic performance.

Reference
See B. Hall, G. Masreliez-Steen, (1982 ) Report on Environmental Factors in raising Children Abroad, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden. Government Publications Office, Swedish title: UD-Barnens uppväkstmiljö ock utvekling, 1982, Liber, Allmänna Förlaget