SEL Challenges 2025 by Dr. Chalandra Gooden

ge7516kt — 2025-10-07 23:29:38 UTC

Students sometimes seem to feel disconnected with the SEL curriculum we utilize as a school. They call it "cringe" and then get VERY annoyed when it turns on. The issue is it is from the perspective of a "middle schooler"

summerhornemann — 2025-10-07 23:30:08 UTC

Lack of teacher training and support

Teacher workload

Lack of time during the lesson or school day

ge7516kt — 2025-10-07 23:30:33 UTC

lack of school-wide fidelity and buy in regarding the SEL approach

2025-10-07 23:30:47 UTC

One challenge is maybe not agreeing on something although you care about how your students feel and want them to feel heard although you are unable to make the desired adjustment.

2025-10-07 23:31:06 UTC

Some challenges could include if it takes away from the lesson, student engagement and not having students care as much. Nit having enough resources or training to be able to do it properly

wb7275iw — 2025-10-07 23:31:22 UTC

To me, the biggest challenge is finding a way to work it into the curriculum. It can be taught explicitly on its own, but sometimes finding a way to work it into other places can be even more beneficial and really get students thinking about it.

amandalara7 — 2025-10-07 23:31:23 UTC

Being new to SEL, I think having the proper training that is relevant to the grade level(s) we are teaching would be helpful.

ib2865km — 2025-10-07 23:31:29 UTC

Students may not be comfortable always sharing how they feel, or may withdraw if they are struggling with something while their peers are not.

ryanflanders — 2025-10-07 23:31:35 UTC

Losing students who are resistant to SEL. It's one of the major balancing acts as these are usually the students who would benefit from SEL the most, but they will instead check out of the lesson or class completely when having to face or learn about their social and emotional wellbeing.

sunshine_noel — 2025-10-07 23:31:45 UTC

Depending on the age of the student there might be some difficulty with student buy-in, or convincing them that they should care about it.

aurorabertola — 2025-10-07 23:31:52 UTC

One of the biggest challenges in implementing SEL is time. Teachers are often under significant pressure to cover academic content within tight schedules, and SEL is sometimes not viewed as a priority.

2025-10-07 23:31:54 UTC

I envision it being tricky to incorporate into certian subject areas without it seeming forced or it calling attention to the subject rather than occurring naturally

2025-10-07 23:31:59 UTC

Making it a positive experience for the whole. If not all students are invested it may take away from the students who are.

ashleyhassing — 2025-10-07 23:32:01 UTC

Some possible challenges when implementing SEL are that some students are going to be more open with you than others. Some will connect with SEL more than others. Also, many teachers may not have the time or resources to put toward SEL. Teachers may also not be trained to provide an SEL learning experience.

2025-10-07 23:32:04 UTC

Access to SEL materials. We were given a training on specific books to implement for SEL yet not easy access to those books.

qe0336kq — 2025-10-07 23:32:07 UTC

Language barrier. It may be harder to explain to students who don't know English very well.

josephmarkert16 — 2025-10-07 23:32:24 UTC

Every community and every student is different. What might be very effective in one classroom might be less so in a different one. I think this is especially true of age. Seniors and freshmen often have very different needs for example

2025-10-07 23:32:24 UTC

As a language teacher, I'm tasked with supporting students' development in expressing themselves and to be able to interpret information in another language. I think that there is a lot of potential for integrating SEL into language learning because part of our emotional growth is knowing how to communicate how we're feeling. The challenge may come from cultural differences that may be present - working with students from Japan really brought this into stark relief and how students do not talk about how they are feeling....with anyone. Understanding my students will be crucial here.

signejeremiason — 2025-10-07 23:32:34 UTC

One of the difficulties I have run into with SEL as a special ed para is how the system necessitates setting high standards for emotional regulation skills for students with disabilities while they exist in a broader school community and societal context that isn't held to that same standard. In other words, the onus for emotional regulation/co-regulation is placed on the students it is particularly difficult for.

aurorabertola — 2025-10-07 23:32:49 UTC

Some teachers might lack proper training in promoting SEL practices.

aurorabertola — 2025-10-07 23:34:04 UTC

Another challenge is to "assess" SEL: how do we measure the social emotional growth of a student?

2025-10-07 23:34:06 UTC

The work of teaching anyone how to communicate and grow their literacy involves a certain amount of empathy. stories allow us to be more empathetic so...I think the challenge more comes is being really thoughtful with the content and tasks I choose....and seeing if those choices are supported by my school/admin

2025-10-07 23:34:11 UTC

Lack of student familiarity. For some, they may have never been in a classroom that focuses on SEL.

elianaruvalcaba — 2025-10-07 23:34:16 UTC

Lack of resources.

Not having a routine in place with the implementation of SEL.

Lack of cultural and socioeconomic background of the student

Not having rapport with students' parents to the extent that this support can be provided.

allisonagiese — 2025-10-07 23:34:19 UTC

I'm in a FED 3 program. We have a dedicated social skills class every morning 1st hour. There's rarely 100% participation, but it's hard to get buy-in for the kids.

sunshine_noel — 2025-10-07 23:34:33 UTC

When I am a brand new teacher, it might be hard to recognize opportunities to tie in SEL in the opportune moment.

aq1925sx — 2025-10-08 00:06:27 UTC

As a social studies teacher, implementing SEL can be tough because discussions about history and justice bring out strong emotions pretty often, while we’re still expected to “cover content.” Balancing the academic side of teaching with emotional safety takes careful planning, as well as building trust with students. I wonder how we can make SEL feel like a natural part of social studies rather than something extra to "squeeze in".