Supporting the Military-Affiliated Learner challenges the academic community to 1) reevaluate how they support military-affiliated learners (MALs) and address how the military-civilian-academic divide causes disparities and 2) implement programs and develop strategies to facilitate equitable academic integration from application to graduation.

Supporting the Military-Affiliated Learner: Communication Approaches to Military Pedagogy & Education challenges the academic community to 1) reevaluate how they support military-affiliated learners (MALs) and address how the military-civilian-academic divide causes disparities and barriers to MAL academic achievement and retention and 2) implement programs and develop strategies to facilitate equitable academic integration from application to graduation.

With contributions from veterans, military spouses, and communication educators, the chapters explicate barriers that MALs face when trying to transition to, navigate, and succeed in higher education. This edited volume explores the impact of the diversity and nuances of MAL identities on their experiences in higher education; promotes military competence by providing opportunities for educators and support staff to learn about potential barriers and promote best practices for connecting with MALs and validating their lived experiences; examines how technology/computer-mediated communication may be used to facilitate community building and promote connectedness for MALs within face-to-face and digital spheres. This book is intended to be a resource guide for administrators, policymakers, and educators by providing tangible strategies, recommendations, and resources to promote the academic success of MALs navigating higher education.

Introduction: The Current Status of MALs in Higher Education, Victoria McDermott, Leandra Hinojosa Hernández, and Amy May

Part I: Exploring MAL Identities

Chapter 1: Setting the Stage: MALs in Higher Education, Victoria McDermott, Margaret Stewart, Carol Walker, Amy May, and Leandra Hernández

Chapter 2: Understanding Dual Identity Formation: Identifying Commonalities and Resolving “Differentness” For Military Affiliated Learners, Amy May and Victoria McDermott

Chapter 3: What is Impacting the Military-Affiliated Learner Experience in Higher Education, Nancy A. Chiara, Michael Chiara, and Mary Z. Ashlock

Chapter 4: Supporting Military Veterans in the Graduate Classroom: A Case Study of Political Beliefs And Discussion, William T. Howe Jr.

Chapter 5: Challenges for Military Partners Pursuing College and Resilience-Based Strategies to Support their Academic Success, Kelly R. Rossetto and Jennifer S. Owlett

Part II: Educators and Support Staff Experiences with MALs

Chapter 6: Speaking Chicana/o Secrets to Military Students: An Autoethnography of Teaching Senior Military Noncommissioned Officers, Frank G. Pérez

Chapter 7: Nepantla, Liminality, and Teaching and Learning in the Space Between: A Borderlands Approach to Military-Affiliated Learner Pedagogy, Leandra Hinojosa Hernández, Sarah De Los Santos Upton, and Arthur A. Aguirre

Chapter 8: Supporting the Military-Affiliated Learner’s Medical School Aspirations, Zea Moullet and Jennifer N. Belding

Chapter 9: Nuclear War!: Theorizing the Negative Impacts of Policy Debate’s Tropogical Mistreatment of War for Military-Affiliated Learners, Nick J. Sciullo

Chapter 10: The Hard Sell: Supporting MALs through Resource Centers, Meghan Velez, Victoria McDermott, and Kenneth W. Marlin

Part III: Building Inclusive Learning Communities Virtually and Beyond

Chapter 11: Best Practices in Supporting Military-Affiliated Learners: Suggestions from Communication and Psychological Sciences, Leandra Hinojosa Hernández and Jennifer N. Belding

Chapter 12: Two-Way Communication as a Constructivist Pedagogy Tool for Enhancing Meaning Making in Digital Learning Classrooms with Military Affiliated Learners, April Cobos

Chapter 13: “So We Hit It With a Hammer, and It Worked”: How Active-Duty Marines Communicate, Collaborate, and Forge their Own Learning Communities in Social Media, Bree McGregor

Chapter 14: Collaborative Apprenticeship Approaches to Writing Instruction in the Military, Ashley Ludewig

Chapter 15: Adapt and Overcome: Military-Affiliated Learners and Transfer of Learning, Catherine St. Pierre

Chapter 16: From Application to Graduation: Collective Recommendations for Serving those Who Serve, Amy May, Victoria McDermott, And Leandra Hinojosa Hernández