Supporting the Military-Affiliated Learner: Communication Approaches to Military Pedagogy and Education is a must-have for anyone conducting research with and/or directly serving this important yet understudied population. The editors bring together under one cover scholars from within and beyond communication, as well as those with military service backgrounds. With sections dedicated to military-affiliated learner(MAL) identities, the experiences of MAL educators and support staff, and the construction of inclusive learning communities for MALs, their collection stands to make an immediate and lasting impact on the lives of MALs.

Erin Sahlstein Parcell, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

We owe it to our service members, military contractors, and their families to make sure they receive the same quality of education as more traditional students. Dr. Leandra H. Hernández’ book offers in-depth explanations of how service members feel when they walk into the classroom, and what instructors can do to help these individuals achieve their maximum learning potential. The topic she has chosen to address is an important one, since military learners have incredible potential to achieve their academic goals, when the bridge to understanding of their complex circumstances has been created. Case studies she has selected make the image of the military learner come alive.

Suzane Bricker, University of Maryland Global Campus

Supporting the Military-Affiliated Learner is a ground-breaking volume that treats the reader to an eclectic collection of literati with personal, service, and/or scholarly connections to the armed forces. Their noble chapters converge at the intersection of military experiences and learning and spotlight a new group of students—a silent troop on the commons—that collectively are now known affectionately forever as MALs (military-affiliated learners). Higher educators, administrators, and staffers will revel in, leverage, and nourish themselves with the work here to become all that they and their MALs can be.

Morten G. Ender

“In Supporting the Military-Affiliated Learner, McDermott, Hernández, and May have created a
timely and valuable scholarly collection. Based on survey, interview, and autoethographic data
as well as the contributors’ extensive experience teaching/mentoring military-affiliated learners
(MALs), these chapters celebrate the diversity of MALs, challenge readers to reflect on their
own stereotypes, and offer strengths-based pedagogical practices and policy recommendations
for supporting MALs. As a resource for bridging military-civilian divides, this volume is a must
read for university instructors, administrators, support staff, and anyone else who interacts with
MALs in the higher education context.”

Steven R. Wilson, professor and director of graduate studies, University of South Florida