This dissertation is about social studies teachers' perceptions of professional and personal preparedness to facilitate social justice discussions. Due to a focus on high-stakes standardized testing in Math and English Language Arts (ELA), there has been a lack of emphasis on the content of social studies. This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of high school social studies teachers and their perceptions of professional and personal preparedness to facilitate social justice discussions with their high school students. The theoretical framework is based on culturally responsive teaching and discussions. Culturally responsive teaching involves the diversity of student populations and how teachers interact with their diverse students. Teachers must find ways to connect with their diverse student populations. The second framework is discussions. Teacher facilitation of discussions is important because it encourages student engagement especially in social studies classrooms. This is a qualitative research study that uses a phenomenological approach. This approach was chosen in order to explore the lived experiences of the study participants, high school social studies teachers. The research questions asked about teachers' perceptions of their professional and personal preparedness to facilitate social justice discussions with their high school students. Sixteen teachers from urban high schools volunteered to be interviewed for the study. Transcripts of the interviews were coded and analyzed. The research findings demonstrated that even if teachers were not professionally trained through coursework, they were self-taught or used their teaching experiences to prepare for these discussions. Also, the study revealed that all of the teachers had personal preparedness to discuss social justice issues with their students. Future research can expand this study to students and other regions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]