What is SEL, Anyway?: Teacher Perceptions of Social-Emotional Learning in High- and Low-Income Schools

• In Event: Student Forum Roundtables Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Roundtable 1: K-12 Education Policy, Schooling, and Discipline

Abstract

Social-emotional learning (SEL), an educational framework that teaches students skills for emotional regulation, interpersonal relationships, and responsible decision-making, has become a cornerstone of modern education. SEL is widely praised for its capacity to improve student behavior and academic success, making its effective implementation a critical topic in contemporary education. This study asks: How does a school’s level of economic disadvantage shape teachers’ perceptions of and experiences with SEL implementation in Chicago Public Schools (CPS)?

Through semi-structured interviews with 13 CPS educators across high- and low-income schools, this paper examines how SEL is defined, enacted, and experienced in high- and low-income schools. Findings reveal that income level strongly influences teacher autonomy, administrative gatekeeping, professional development in SEL, and how educators define SEL in the first place. In higher-income schools, teachers more often describe SEL as a flexible practice focused on students' identity development and ability to name emotions. In contrast, teachers in lower-income schools more frequently frame SEL as a tool for emotional regulation and behavioral control, shaped by heightened administrative oversight and limited teacher autonomy.

Overall, despite some shared challenges, these findings point to structural inequities that shape how SEL is defined and enacted. More broadly, this paper demonstrates how ostensibly universal education reforms can reproduce structural inequality, underscoring the importance of sociological research in designing more equitable, context-responsive policy interventions. The paper concludes by recommending that teacher voices are centered in future SEL policymaking decisions.

Author

• Katie Fraser, Southern Methodist University