Date
11-13-2025
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Kristy Motte
Keywords
cross-racial empathy, generational racism, educational racism, racial dichotomy, reciprocal triadic determinism, moral disengagement, multicultural education
Disciplines
Curriculum and Instruction | Education
Recommended Citation
Eliassaint, Jude, "Racism in the American Education System: A Hermeneutical Phenomenology of the Lived Experiences of Black and White K-12 Educators" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7601.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7601
Abstract
The purpose of this hermeneutical phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of Black and White K-12 educators with educational racism and its influence on their well-being, self-efficacy, and cross-racial empathy in American schools. Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory was used to frame this study theoretically, as social cognitive theory focuses on providing a path for a more equalitarian pedagogical system for societal and global betterment. Data collection, conducted through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and a qualitative questionnaire, involved 12 Black and White educators recruited through purposeful sampling from a Southern state school district. A thematic analysis was conducted to make sense of the triangulated data. The findings indicated that educators endured emotional, intellectual, and physical discomfort due to ER. Additionally, while educators' self-efficacy remains strong, their same-race preferential dispositions increased. Finally, the results show that educators resort to their faith, networking, professionalism, and antiracist education, among other adaptation strategies, to resist and survive ER. The results inform educational stakeholders about the need for greater awareness of various perceptions, dispositions, and behaviors that are problematic to Black and White educators' well-being, self-efficacy, and cross-racial empathy. It is the researcher's hope that the results of this study will inspire, motivate, and galvanize Black and White educational stakeholders to endeavor toward the materialization of genuine multicultural educational reforms susceptible to guaranteeing K-12 educators' overall well-being, self-efficacy, and empathetic cross-racial dispositions so crucial for all children's well-being and development, and ultimately societal harmony in America.
