The Intensification of Moral Injury in Teachers During the Pandemic

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher's Work in Contentious Times: Pedagogy and Teachers' Experiences

Abstract

This mixed methods study uncovered experiences teachers described as burnout or stress prior to and during the pandemic were not simply what these two terms described. During, and shortly after, the pandemic, teachers’ descriptions of their circumstances fall more in line with the definition and experiences of moral injury. This study utilized the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OBI) to assess teachers’ levels of burnout, coupled with a grounded theory analysis of written experiences, focus groups, and individual interviews. We explored four related themes that support our central hypothesis that teachers could not change the things they described as central to their stress and burnout because they were truly experiencing moral injury.

Authors

• Denisha Jones, Defending the Early Years

• Brianne Kramer, Southern Utah University