Date
2-29-2024
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Richard Gregory Stratton
Keywords
teachers, childhood trauma, education, urban schools, burnout
Disciplines
Education | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Grazette, Melissa Elizabeth, "“I Have Nothing Left to Give” A Phenomenological Study of Secondary Traumatic Stress and Burnout in Urban School Teachers Related to the Socioeconomic Issues, Childhood Trauma, and Low Academic Performance of Urban Students" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5234.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5234
Abstract
This study examines the shared experiences of secondary traumatic stress and burnout in urban schoolteachers in Washington, D.C. This study focuses on the experiences of teachers working in a low-performing school in a low-income neighborhood and working with students with trauma as it relates to their experiences with secondary traumatic stress and burnout symptoms. This study focused on the lived experiences of ten urban schoolteachers in Washington, D.C. The teacher participants served a school population of 68% at risk of negative socioeconomic barriers such as exposure to violence, poverty, drugs, and an increased likelihood of exposure to trauma. The hermeneutic phenomenological research design was utilized to examine the lived experiences of urban schoolteachers experiencing secondary trauma stress and burnout in relation to student trauma, low academic performance, and low family engagement. Hermeneutic phenomenology allowed the researcher’s biases and experiences to shape the interpretation of the themes found amongst the data and bring meaning to the phenomenon.
