An article in The Pulse [offline] shatters some stereotypes about the military and those who serve. The author teaches at a university where military personnel are enrolled in education programs to become teachers. In speaking with these soldiers, Etta Kralovec finds out that the military culture can be much more inclusive than academia, “My experiences with these students has changed fundamentally my views about the military and who serves in it and what these folks can offer to students in our public schools.”
I learned early as a military instructor that everyone is teachable. Our training organisations worked on the premise that if a trainee failed, it was probably the fault of the instructor. This put the pressure on the instructors to find the best way to help soldiers to perform while the the trainees learned to work together. Kralovec observed that military students were more focused on supporting learning:
These students understand the notion of community in a very personal way. As soldiers, they learned to watch each others’ backs as well as work as a team member. These will not be teachers who close their doors and don’t share their websites. They are comfortable working in groups, bringing along everyone in their group as they complete projects. Unlike most other students, TTT [troops to teachers] students never say, “I don’t want to work in a group on this project.” They pitch in, divide up the tasks and get to it. Rather than try to negotiate an assignment, these folks just do it.
Sometimes we can learn from the most unexpected sources.
