Moral Injury in K-12 Education

A Phenomenological Inquiry at the Intersection of Race and Class

Abstract

This study is a phenomenological exploration of moral injury among K-12 professionals who work in schools in which the large majority of students are students of color and are eligible for free or reduced lunch. All participants worked in one urban school district in the Midwest of the United States. Professionals identified harsh discipline practices, insincere restorative justice programs, deceptive use of outcome data, and a pitying approach to the education of low-income students of color as morally injurious practices. The paper ends with recommendations for how the construct of moral injury can be useful in identifying and confronting sources of educational injustice.