Date

11-13-2025

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Heather Strafaccia

Keywords

psychological safety, burnout, education, self-determination theory, MBI-ES, organizational leadership, secondary education

Disciplines

Education

Abstract

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lack of psychological safety that increases burnout for secondary education teachers at schools in the Southeastern United States. Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory guided this study, aiming to provide valuable insights into how secondary education teachers’ sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness within their work environment influences their experiences of burnout. The central research question of this study was: What are the burnout experiences of secondary education teachers in a low psychological safety environment? The methodology for this study included a transcendental study design utilized to sample 10 participants of any gender, either currently or past employed secondary education teachers at the Excel School District in the Southeastern United States. Moustakas' methodological approach to individual and focus group interviews and data analysis was also utilized. Letter-writing prompts were also used to gather data. Maslach’s Burnout Inventory was used as a screening filter to narrow the prospective pool to the actual focus group participants. Findings from this study led to three primary themes: professional identity and instructional autonomy, relational culture and collegial dynamics, and structural pressures and emotional sustainability. Each primary theme contained three sub-themes further exploring the lived experiences of the secondary education teachers experiencing a lack of psychological safety leading to burnout.

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