Lazy, Unmotivated and Unintelligent: How Instructor Beliefs Shape Learning for Army Trainee Officers in Australia

The quality of learning in military officer training is centred on the interactions between trainee officers (TOs) and their instructors. We explore the relationship between TOs and instructors at the Royal Military College – Duntroon (RMC-D) Australia and its impact on learning. Drawing on a Total Institution/Reinventive Institution (TI/RI) inspired framework, we explore how the institutional framework influences the emotional and educational experiences of trainees. We used reflexive thematic analysis to explore 2676 survey responses from TOs (2017-19), coupled with autoethnography. Three key themes were identified: institutional tension, instructor culture and helplessness.

The findings show that the hierarchical structure and instructor-led culture at RMC-D often led to feelings of helplessness among TOs, particularly in the field environment. The power divide at RMC-D mimics that of a TI/RI, the field environment strengthens these characteristics of RMC-D, where a clash between the TOs and coercive reidentification is ever present. The instructor culture is shaped by the instructor’s view that TOs are lazy, unmotivated and unintelligent. Which results in them adopting a gatekeeping mentality of excluding those they deem un-worthy. Whereas for TOs, intense time pressures, idiosyncratic punishment, ambiguous assessment criteria and a lack of feedback on performance led to feelings of helplessness.

The implications of this research extend beyond RMC-D, offering insights into military education and leadership development more broadly. It adds to the middle-ground between Scott's (2011) Reinventive Institutions and Goffman's (1961) Total Institution by analysing what happens to TOs that voluntarily join RMC-D and how the instructors use constant threats of failure, back classing and punishment to reinforce the power divide between instructor and TO. Ultimately, this research contributes to the ongoing discourse on the culture within military officer training institutions, how a TO’s identify is formed and how instructors approach developing junior officers.