Moral Injury Among Professionals In K-12 Education: A Mixed Methods Inquiry

Abstract

This dissertation presents an explanatory sequential mixed methods study of moral injury among professionals in K-12 public education. Moral injury refers to the lasting psychological and existential harm that occurs when an individual engages in or witnesses acts that violate deeply held moral beliefs and expectations. Two hundred eighteen licensed K-12 professionals in one urban school district in the Midwest completed an on-line survey that included measures of moral injury and emotional and behavioral correlates. The K-12 professionals exhibited levels of moral injury similar to those experienced by military veterans, and those working in high-poverty, racially segregated schools were significantly more likely to endorse experiences of moral injury. Based on these findings, 21 professionals who had demonstrated high levels of moral injury during the quantitative portion of the study were invited to participate in individual interviews about their experiences. Using a post-intentional phenomenological approach, and informed by Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality Theory, the analysis demonstrates how structures and processes of race and class oppression produce an education context that is rife with moral wrongs and accompanying distress. Recommendations are made for how the construct of moral injury can be employed to work towards eliminating educational injustice.