{"title":"Teachers' perceptions of challenges to integrating social emotional learning professional development into EFL teacher training programs","authors":"Mona Najjarpour","doi":"10.1016/j.ijedro.2025.100501","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cultivating social-emotional competence is crucial for equipping English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to navigate the intricate socio-emotional demands of the classroom. While fostering Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) within the teacher community offers a promising strategy, a significant gap exists in the dearth of such specialized programs designed to cultivate social-emotional well-being in EFL teachers. This lack of tailored initiatives raises question about the challenges hindering the integration of SEL-based professional development in EFL teacher training programs. To explore these challenges, this qualitative study elicited the perceptions of 18 Iranian EFL teachers, selected through convenience sampling. Participants completed an online open-ended questionnaire and participated in four online focus group discussions. Content and thematic analysis of the responses revealed several key challenges, including <em>content deficiency, resource scarcity, educational system priorities, limited acceptance, neglect of SEL value</em>, and <em>chronological constraints</em>. These findings advocate for a transformative shift in EFL teacher training, emphasizing the importance of teacher SEL and requiring authorities to prioritize its integration, embrace innovation, and allocate necessary resources. The implications of these findings are far-reaching, affecting materials developers, teacher professional development programs, authorities, and policymakers. By promoting SEL awareness and investing in relevant resources, these stakeholders can collectively enhance EFL teachers' social-emotional well-being, improving their ability to manage classroom challenges.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73445,"journal":{"name":"International journal of educational research open","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100501"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International journal of educational research open","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666374025000664","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Cultivating social-emotional competence is crucial for equipping English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to navigate the intricate socio-emotional demands of the classroom. While fostering Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) within the teacher community offers a promising strategy, a significant gap exists in the dearth of such specialized programs designed to cultivate social-emotional well-being in EFL teachers. This lack of tailored initiatives raises question about the challenges hindering the integration of SEL-based professional development in EFL teacher training programs. To explore these challenges, this qualitative study elicited the perceptions of 18 Iranian EFL teachers, selected through convenience sampling. Participants completed an online open-ended questionnaire and participated in four online focus group discussions. Content and thematic analysis of the responses revealed several key challenges, including content deficiency, resource scarcity, educational system priorities, limited acceptance, neglect of SEL value, and chronological constraints. These findings advocate for a transformative shift in EFL teacher training, emphasizing the importance of teacher SEL and requiring authorities to prioritize its integration, embrace innovation, and allocate necessary resources. The implications of these findings are far-reaching, affecting materials developers, teacher professional development programs, authorities, and policymakers. By promoting SEL awareness and investing in relevant resources, these stakeholders can collectively enhance EFL teachers' social-emotional well-being, improving their ability to manage classroom challenges.