Volume_4_Issue_5_Digest

TPC D igest 85 Rebekah F. Cole, NCC, is a core faculty member in the school counseling program at Capella University. Correspondence may be addressed to PSC 809 Box 2515 FPO, AE 09626-0026, rebekah.cole@capella.edu. T he American School Counselor Association position statement on cultural diversity emphasizes that school counselors should work for the success of all students of all cultures. The military culture is a unique one that extends into the service members’ personal realms as well, affecting everyday lifestyle as well as the lifestyle of family members. As culturally competent practitioners, school counselors must be knowledgeable about military culture in both its visible and invisible aspects. While other cultures have been explored in-depth in the professional school counseling literature, military culture has not. Moreover, military culture is often unfamiliar to educators who encounter military students and their families regularly. In order to fully describe the nature of military culture and its meaning for military students and their family members, this article will begin with an exploration of the surface- level aspects of military culture (language, hierarchy, sense of rules and regulations) and then will progressively explore the more emotionally intense shallow and deep aspects of the culture (self-expectations and self- sacrifice). These unique cultural aspects may result in challenges for military students and their families. In order to help these students and their families to overcome these challenges, professional school counselors should work to fully understand how to navigate this culture. This article will therefore present key information related to military culture in order to help increase this knowledge, understanding and awareness in the reader. After an in-depth description of military culture, implications for school counselors in regard to increasing their cultural competence when working with military families are discussed. Specific suggestions, such as professional development, self-examination and cultural immersion experiences, are given so that professional school counselors can increase their multicultural competence when working with this population. Overall, professional school counselors should focus on capitalizing on the strengths of military students and their families and work to increase their sense of self-efficacy as they face the challenges that the military lifestyle brings. Finally, a case study illustrating common challenges associated with this culture for Understanding Military Culture: A Guide for Professional School Counselors – DIGEST Rebekah F. Cole