Centering Well-Being and Wholeness: Exploring Racial Battle Fatigue Among Black 3-K to Twelfth-Grade Teachers

Author

• Olubunmi Fashusi, CUNY Hunter CollegeFollow

Date of Award

Spring 6-1-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Education: Curriculum and Teaching

First Advisor

Nicora Placa

Second Advisor

Carmen Brown

Third Advisor

Jennifer Samson

Academic Program Adviser

Jody Polleck

Abstract

This qualitative case study, with some descriptive statistics, examined Black 3-K through 12th- grade teachers’ experiences with racial battle fatigue (RBF), the psychological and behavioral stress responses they perceived most accurately convey how RBF manifests for them, and the strategies they used to disrupt RBF’s impact. Participants experienced compounded RBF due to advocating for students (i.e., speaking out, supporting, or intervening). Participants’ most perceived psychological stress response to RBF was racism awareness, and most perceived behavioral stress response was spirituality or religion. Participants disrupted the impact of RBF through intrinsic care (i.e., purpose or why, managing emotions, and self-care) and extrinsic care (i.e., community or systemic support). The findings of this study mirrored those of prior research on Black teacher retention and attrition, the benefits of retaining Black teachers, RBF, emotional labor, and types of support. The findings also deepen our understanding of the aforementioned topics by illuminating counter-storytelling among Black 3-K to 12th-grade teachers about emotional labor and RBF stemming from the permanence of racism, thereby providing schools and school districts with more information to better support them and, hopefully, further enhance their well-being and wholeness.

Recommended Citation

Fashusi, Olubunmi, "Centering Well-Being and Wholeness: Exploring Racial Battle Fatigue Among Black 3-K to Twelfth-Grade Teachers" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/1452