The    Warrior’s  Journey  In  Higher    Educa6on    Suppor6ng  Transi6on  and  Transforma6on    

Barton  Buechner,  PhD  Adjunct  Professor,  Military  Psychology  MA  program,  Adler  University  

bbuechner@adler.edu  (707)  812-­‐0204    

Consor6um  of  Michigan    Veteran  Educators  June  11th,  2015,  travers  City,  MI      

Key  Points    Ø  (1)  Veterans  are  oriented  by  culture  and  training  to  

value  and  embody  Warrior  Strengths  Ø  (2)  These  strengths  are  enacted  archetypally  through  

the  stories  veterans  tell  –  or  cannot  tell  Ø  (3)  The  stories  veterans  tell  about  combat  stress  

(including  moral  injuries  and  “PTSD”)  are  oQen  confused  and  conflated  –  these  can  become  self-­‐fulfilling  prophecies  

Ø  (4)  Forms  of  reflecUve  learning  –  parUcularly  those  involving  mentors  –  can  help  veterans  make  meaning  of  difficult  experiences,  leading  to  personal  growth  

Ø  HIGHER  EDUCATION  INSTITUTIONS  CAN  SUPPORT  THIS  PROCESS  IF  CULTURAL  ISSES  ARE  ADDRESSES  AND  FACULTY  AND  STAFF  ARE  ACTIVELY  ENGAGED  

“BeZer  than  any  other  kind  of  experience,  schooling  can  restore  the  veteran  to  the  communicaUve  system  of  society”  

         -­‐  (Waller,  1944)  

Communica6on  and    Educa6on    in  Veterans’  Transi6ons  

Learning  and  Growth,  or  “Therapy”?  

HEALTH,    EDUCATION    AND    PERSONAL  GROWTH:  From  the  Harvard  Grant  Longitudinal  study:    EducaUon  was  the  single  best  predictor  of  overall  future  health    

Significance  of  Educa6on  over  lifecourse  

Source:    G.  Vaillant  (2013)  

COACHING  Academic  Advising  

Peers  (Buddy)  

FACULTY  INTERACTION  

In  Class  Out  of  Class  

SERVICES  General  Unique  

TRANSITION  OrientaUons  

Veterans  Course  Academic  Plan  

Access  to  courses  Reserve  &  Guard  

 

Student  Veteran  

Service  

Source:  Col.  David  Vacchi,  USA  (Ret)  Veteran  Support  Coordinator  UMASS  Amherst  

The Humanities

A Liberal Education is a process of “liberating” us … from our limitations, ignorance, dogma, and so on… to thereby become free human beings, participating in civil society. A liberal education includes humanities studies such as: •  Communication •  The Fine Arts •  Literature •  Drama •  Music •  Languages, culture, etc…

Warrior  Quests  

The  Universal  Mono-­‐Myth:  •  Hero Leaves home •  Departs on a quest •  Defeats a strong adversary •  Returns by a perilous journey •  Brings back a “boon” or gift to humanity

Warrior  Quests  

The  American  Mono-­‐Myth:  •  A  peaceful  town  is                    threatened  by  great  evil  •  The  local  authoriUes                    are  powerless  to  stop  it  •  A  mysterious  hero  comes                    and  saves  the  town  •  The  hero  cannot  stay,                    and  leaves  alone  

The Human Sciences A philosophy and approach to science that seeks to understand human experience in deeply subjective, personal, historical, contextual, cross-cultural, political, and spiritual terms. •  Phenomenology (Husserl, Schutz) •  Somatics (Merleau-Ponty) •  Hermeneutics (Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Ricouer) •  Social Construction (Berger & Luckmann, Pearce) •  Moral Science (Hume) •  Philosophy (Various) -­‐  Valerie  Bentz  

The  Significance  of  Context   The Lifeworld (Schutz) “The lived experience of human beings and

other living creatures as formed into more or less coherent grounds for their existence. This consists of the whole system of interactions with others and objects in an environment that is fused with meaning and language (for human actors) and that sustains the life of all creatures from birth through death. It is the fundamental ground of all experience for human beings.”

- Bentz and Shapiro (1998)

USING YOUR GI  BILL… EXACTLY HOW IT FEELS

Did you know there are over 1,200 veterans

attending Solano Community College???

Twice a month, join fellow student veterans student veterans for free food, the opportunity to plan social events for

veterans and have a voice in campus projects with Measure Q, make new friends, and have a good time!

For more information contact : For more information contact : For more information contact : SCC Student Veteran OrganizationSCC Student Veteran OrganizationSCC Student Veteran Organization Email: sccsvo@yahoo.com Like us on Facebook: www. facebook.com/

The  “Post-­‐Tradi6onal”  Student  Veteran:  Cultural  Disconnect  in  the  Classroom  

Androgogy  vs.  Pedagogy    (Malcolm  Knowles)    

•  Mentor-­‐led  •  Cohort-­‐driven  •  Collegial  and  individual  •  Diversity  and  Social  Jus6ce    PROGRAMS:  Clinical  Psychology,  Human  and  Organiza6onal  Development,  Media  Psychology,  Educa6onal  Leadership          

Philosophical  Alignments  around  growth  Forms  of  meaning-­‐construcFng  and  consciousness    “the  Educa6onal  line  of  thought  is  Transforma6onal  Learning  –    the  Psychological  line  of  thought  is    Construc6ve  Developmentalism  –      The  Organiza6onal  line  of  thought  is    Apprecia6ve  Inquiry  the  Communica6on  line  of  thought  is    The  Coordinated  Management  of  Meaning            

-­‐Robert  Kegan  

Transformative Learning Concepts •  “Disorienting Dilemmas” •  Reframing of Narratives •  Interpersonal relations (with Mentors) •  Individual and social implications and meanings •  Communicative learning •  Values of freedom, equality, tolerance, social

justice, civic responsibility, and education

Jack Mezirow John Dirkx (Michigan State University)    

Appreciative Inquiry Concepts •  NOT “Problem Solving” •  Anticipatory focus (looks towards future) •  Collective inquiry (shared meaning) •  Strength-Based •  Positively Focused

“What you pay attention to, increases”

Cooperrider (1987)    

The  Coordinated  Management  of  Meaning  (CMM)  Theory  

“How can we structure our Institutions so they support the evolution of consciousness?”

- W. Barnett Pearce

Understanding that we: •  Live in multiple social worlds •  Can draw resources from several social worlds in constructing new ones •  Are able to make conscious choices about what forms of life we wish to enact in given situations.

Pearce (2007)

•  OrganizaUons  can  develop  everyone  every  day.    •  They  can  turn  struggles  into  growth  opportuniUes  to  create  a  new  

kind  of  compeUUve  advantage.    •  A  new  way  of  working  that  can  be  transformaUonal  for  organizaUons  

and  all  of  their  people.  •  Enacted  in  partnerships  between  employers  and  higher  educaUon  

-­‐  Robert  Kegan,  Lisa  Lahey,  Andy  Fleming,  and  Claire  Lee  

SOME  IMPLICATIONS:  •  ShiQ  from  standardized  performance  measures  and  “degree-­‐centric”  thinking  •  Focus  on  conUnuous  personal  growth  and  collecUve  capacity-­‐building  •  New  ways  to  measure  outcomes  in  Higher  educaUon?  

Super  Integral  -­‐  witness  self,  being-­‐centric  view,  (emergent)  Integral  -­‐  holisUc,  autonomous,  worldcentric,  “Cosmopolitan”  4%  of  US  pop,  evolved  50  years  ago  Pluralis6c  -­‐  sensiUve  self,  individualisUc,  idealisUc,  10%  of  US  pop,  100  years  ago  Ra6onal  -­‐  scienUsts,  data-­‐driven  decision-­‐making,  logic,  reason,  25%  of  pop,  300  years  ago  Mythical  -­‐  hierarchical  religions,  conformist,  good/bad,  ethnocentric,  40%  of  US  pop,  5000  years  ago  Egocentric  -­‐  'me'/'I  want  it  now',  evolved  10,000  years  ago,  20%  of  US  pop.  Magic  -­‐  tribes,  clans,  gangs,  supersUUous,  safety/survival,  10%  of  US  pop.  Archaic  -­‐  Basic  survival,  <1%  of  US  populaUon  

Loevinger’s  (Integral)  Stages  of  Development  

Development  and  OrganizaUons  

Changing  the  Context  

“Catch  22”  situaUons  are  common  experiences  for  veterans.    The  Strange  Loop”  model  of  CMM  Theory  helps  reveal  the  contextual  factors  and  assumpUons  underlying  them  

Invisible wounds of war….

PTSD,  Moral  Injury,  or  Both?                                      Source:  David  Wood:  hZp://projects.huffingtonpost.com/moral-­‐injury  

BOTH    Anger    Depression    Anxiety    Insomnia    Nightmares    Self-­‐medica6on    with  alcohol    or  drugs    

PTSD  “Startle”    reflex    Memory  loss    Fear    Flashbacks    

Moral  Injury  Sorrow    Grief    Regret    Shame    AlienaUon      

Moral  Injury  is  not    the  same  as  value  Judgment  –    but  the  term  is  sUll  problemaUc  

“Re-examine all you have been told... Dismiss what insults your Soul”

- Walt Whitman

Moral  Code    “A  Theory  by  which  a  group  understands  its  experience  and  makes  judgments  about  proper  and  improper  acUons”  

•  A  set  of  concepts  and  system  of  rules  •  A  tradiUon  of  truth  and  propriety  •  The  basis  of  “common  sense”  

                 (“Moral  Conflict”  -­‐  Pearce  and  LiZlejohn,  1997)  

Poscrauma6c  GROWTH  

“What  Does  not  Destroy  me  Makes  Me  Stronger”      -­‐  F.  Nietsche  (1888)  Twilight  of  the  Idols  

 ENABLING  FACTORS:  •  Social  Support  •  DeliberaUve  CogniUve  Processing  (Mental  Discipline)  •  PosiUve  meaning-­‐making  (vision  and  hope  for  future)    OPPOSITE:  •  Social  IsolaUon  •  Perceived  Burdonsomeness  •  Loss  of  power,  IdenUty  and  self  efficacy  

   SOURCES:  Kanako  Taku,  Oakland  University;  Tedeschi  &  Calhoun,    

An  Interpersonal  Theory  of  Suicide  

-­‐  Jeffrey  Bird  USMC,  Grand  Valley  State  University    

Transformative Learning Principles: Interpersonal relations, Reframed Narratives, Values of freedom, equality, tolerance, social justice, civic responsibility, and value of education

What Makes the Difference: u Relating to Others (Communication) u New Possibilities (Future orientation) u Personal Strength (Self-efficacy) u Spiritual Change (Making meaning) u Appreciation of Life (Mission and purpose)

                                             -­‐  Tedeschi  and  Calhoun  (1995)  

-­‐  Mezirow  (2000)  

How  do  you  fix  a  “worldview”?  

“PTSD  isn’t  a  disease,  it’s  a  worldview.    War,  disaster  response,  police  work,  these  things  force  a  person  to  live  in  the  spaces  where  trauma  happens,  to  spend  most  of  their  Ume  there,  unUl  that  world  becomes  yours,  seeps  through  your  skin  and  runs  in  your  blood.  Diseases  are  discrete  things.    But  how  do  you  treat  a  change  in  perspecUve?”    

     -­‐  AJ  (Blog  post)  

“...Engage  the  Whole  Human  Cricer…  …Brain, Mind, Society, Culture, And Dynamics of Mental Health ….”

-  Jonathan Shay, MD, PhD

Four Domains of Human Experience

HOW  is  a  Worldview  Constructed?  •  CommunicaUon  is  the  “primary”  social  force  

•  How  we  “make”  and  “remake”  social  worlds      -­‐    rela6onships,  selves,  groups,  cultures,  etc.  

 • When  communicaUng,  we  engage  or  experience:  

•  COORDINATION  (of  joint  acUons)  •  COHERENCE  (sense-­‐making,  intenUons,  interpretaUons)  

• MYSTERY  (Emergence)  the  reminder  that  we  are  not  always  in  control:        Other  stories  are  possible….  

Integra6ng  Meaning-­‐Making  Mentoring  Across  Four    Quadrants    

“All  Quadrants,  All  Lines”  (AQAL)  model  from  Integral  theory  (Wilber,  2006)  and  Cosmopolitan  CommunicaUon  model  from    CMM  theory  (Pearce,  1989)  

Source:  Arthur  Jensen,  Ph.D.  Syracuse  University  -­‐  SIETAR  Berlin,  Sept.  2012  

“In the beginning it is not only the homeland that shows to the homecomer an unaccustomed face. The homecomer appears equally strange to those who expect him, and the ‘thick air’ about him will keep him unknown. Both the homecomer and the welcomer will need the help of a mentor to ‘make them wise to things’”

– Alfred Schutz (1945)

Mentoring  as  Media6ng  Structure:  Bridging  unfamiliar  Social  Worlds  

Mentoring  Domains  

•  SYSTEM  AND  CULTURE  ADAPTATION  – TradiUonal  “Paving  the  Way”  mentoring  – Environmental  AZunement  – Peer  group  mentoring  

•  DEVELOPMENT  AND  GROWTH  – Making  meaning  from  difficult  “Lived  Experience”  – Spiritual  growth  – MoUvaUonal  Drivers  and  Contexts  – CommunicaUon  and  networking  competence

“System”  Mentoring  

“…if  you  change  one  person’s  viewpoint,  save  one  life,  it’s  kind  of  worth  it  in  the  end.    You  can't  change  the  big  things  in  life  if  you  don’t  tackle  the  li>le  things:  that’s  how  they  got  big  in  the  first  place.”        

     -­‐  TJ  

“I  think  of  this  as  the  hub.    They  go  to  class  and  learn  they  get  to  have  their  own  opinion  about  things  that  they  are  allowed  to  say  out  loud;  and  then  they  come  back  here  and  recharge.    Then  they  go  to  another  class  where  they  learn  to  speak  in  public,  in  front  of  other  people;  and  then  they  come  back  here  where  it’s  safe.    (The  Student  Veterans  Lounge  is)  the  midpoint  between  collecFvism  and  individualism.”    

-­‐  Pat  

“Culture”  Mentoring  

(CMM  and  ACT  therapy  are)  very  much  based  around  construcUng  meaning  for  oneself,  figuring  out  what  your  values  are,  and  then  construcUng  a  life  that  very  much  adheres  and  moves  forward  with  those  values…  …I’m  more  comfortable  with  the  spirituality  that  resonates  with  me,  and  it  is  starUng  to  integrate  my  experience.  That  is  parUcularly  interesUng  to  me,  combined  with  the  spiritual  focus  I  have  had  which  is  a  self-­‐directed,  personal  gnosis…  

         -­‐  AJ  

“Mind”  Mentoring  

“Brain”  Mentoring  

“I  have  never  had  a  bad  experience  with  a  psychiatrist  or  anything,  but  it  seems  like  they  just  ask  one  quesUon  aQer  another  aQer  another,  and  then  saying  things  like,  ‘well,  it  sounds  like  you  keep  menFoning  this,  or  it  sounds  like  this  is  what’s  really  bothering  you.’    But  it  seems  like  they  are  too  passive.  Being  passive  limits  your  effecUveness,  especially  when  you  are  having  a  conversaUon  with  someone,  especially  about  something  they  are  struggling  with.  

     -­‐  TJ  

Why  Mul6ple  Mentors  Macer:   •  Trust is is difficult and may be conditional, but

can be developed over time in networks •  Encountering appropriate advisors is often a

matter of chance, especially in an unfamiliar landscape – so referrals are needed to “cross borders”

•  Communication skills can be a blind spot for many veterans

•  Complex change engages both reflection (looking back) and envisioning (looking forward) – a single mentor is not always able to address both

Overcoming the Limitations of One-To-One Mentorship #

A  mentor  network    instant  access  to  exper6se    

when  you  need  it    

Advisors,  Staff,  and  Supporters    

Specific  Areas  of  ExperUse  

People    in  your    Career  Path  

Matched  Mentor  in  your  Field  

•  Engage  with  humaniUes  faculty  •  Support  Veterans  wriUng  courses,  etc.  •  IdenUfy  and  connect  with  emerging            veteran-­‐scholars  and  their  research  •  Include  Veteran-­‐related  topics  in  academic  events  and  seminars  (book  discussions,  film  showings,  etc)  

•  Build  networks  with  veteran-­‐friendly  employers  for  mentoring  opportuniUes  

Some  Prac6cal  Next  Steps:    

Facilita6ng  “Social  Entrepreneurship”##

Ø Veterans are trained to improvise, find mentors#Diverse mentors can be made more accessible in the campus context, with focus on developing strengths in multiple domains##

Ø Education is a “customizable” strategic resource#An organized approach to finding and networking with multiple members can help veterans make more purposeful choices in their higher education journey ##

Ø Many veterans want to continue to serve ##Finding a new life purpose through exploration, personal development, and networking###

The    Warrior’s  Journey  In  Higher    Educa6on    Suppor6ng  Transi6on  and  Transforma6on    

Barton  Buechner,  PhD  Adjunct  Professor,  Military  Psychology  MA  program,  Adler  University  

bbuechner@adler.edu  (707)  812-­‐0204    

Consor6um  of  Michigan    Veteran  Educators  June  11th,  2015,  travers  City,  MI