Connecting Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) to Career Success
What are the potential challenges of incorporating social-emotional learning into practice in your current role and/or school setting?
I teach at a DAEP, where many students have high needs.
Time Constraints – With a packed curriculum focused on career pathways and required standards, it can be difficult to find time for dedicated SEL activities or discussions.
The biggest challenge I see is getting the student to trust that you won't make them feel different.
I don't consider it a challenge since we incorporate communicating and socializing regularly however age and influences outside of school,ie. home life, social media pose challenges.
Part of the developmental growth that students in the age group are going through presents some challenges. However, as the school year progresses and the students get comfortable with their peers in my classes and we go on our clinical rotations and participate in internships they develop social skills and emotional maturity.
The potential challenges are student participation. Working with high schoolers, it is hard to get them to open up about things and participate in conversations. Talking is a huge part of SEL and it will jus take some time.
Teachers and students experiencing burn out, not wanting to collaborate with other students, not enough time in each class, and a lot of off tasks behavior.
Students not wanting to participate, limited time, burnout, and maturity. Some students don't care about these kind of topics and some are immature to a point where the lesson is just a point to mess around.
Challenges of incorporating SEL include limited time, need for resources, student engagement, parental support, and difficulty measuring progress.
I would say the main challenge I face at this grade (9th) is the range of maturities. Many are just learning to cope with new feelings, and they use humor, insults, or stoicism as an armor against them. The next is finding a well-timed moment to incorporate it into the curriculm. This is less a challenge than an opportunity for creativity, inviting students to dive even deeper into the humans creating the literature we read.
There are two major challenges. The first is the maturity of the students to understand the importance of SEL and the second is the school setting. SEL usually comes behind academics, school events, etc., so it is the problem of prioritization in an already packed schedule.
Students not being mature enough to understand the importance of the SEL lessons. The world revolves around them and their phone.
Educator workload, stress and burnout as well as student's not buying in and thinking SEL lessons/content is boring and/or a waste of time.
Students may not understand the concepts and see the value; being intentional and teaching SEI and setting examples can also be a barrier to students accepting and being open to SEL.
Students not buying in to it. Not enough training and staff is already spread to thin.
The emotional maturity of students can have a wide range. In one class, I can have students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Meeting the student where they are in life is important. Some students have a hard time seeing past their immediate world of school, sports, friends. Helping them grasp the skills they need to be an adult in the world can be challenging.
