International schools are well–practised in dealing with the needs of TCKs as explains Mariella Vittetoe-Castillo, head of counselling at Garden International School in Kuala Lumpur. “Parents and international schools have significant roles to play in supporting their children to make sense of their international and cross-cultural identities. They need to be open
and accepting that ‘loss’ will be a feature of their lives in a way that it might not if their family was not based internationally. Living internationally can offer a rich, multifaceted experience as long as we engage with the inevitable change. “Schools such as ours work constantly with our families
to support them in understanding this – ensuring that we don’t avoid the awkward nature of loss and to celebrate the fluid nature of the international identity.”
