Introduction: With the advantage of the restructured education in Vietnam, the social-emotional learning (SEL) framework has been gradually piloting applied into the educational curriculum. However, the SEL integration is only effective in primary school.
Methods: This study applied qualitative phenomenological research, which used in-depth interviews with students and core teachers who have experienced SEL from previous studies to explore and explain the SEL integration is not successful at the secondary level.
Findings: Four findings showed the current challenges of SEL’s integration in Vietnamese educational curriculum: 1) the incompatibility between the current curriculum and the teachers’ pedagogical capacity; 2) the perceived difficulties in integrating SEL into educational activities; 3) the limited focus on understanding the students’ psychology; and 4) students cannot develop their social-emotional competence.
Discussion: When the challenges can be solved, corresponding to the solutions discussed, can the SEL framework be properly integrated into Vietnamese education, as well as designing an integrated continuous SEL-orientated curriculum across school levels, meeting the requirements of the new educational curriculum.

Keywords: social-emotional learning, SEL, social-emotional competence, SEC, secondary school students, phenomenological research, SEL integration

中文翻译：

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探索中学社会情感学习整合的挑战：越南的现象学研究

简介：借助越南教育结构调整的优势，社会情感学习（SEL）框架已逐步试点应用于教育课程。然而，SEL 整合只在小学有效。
方法：本研究采用定性现象学研究，通过对以往研究中经历过 SE​​L 的学生和核心教师进行深入访谈，探索和解释 SEL 整合在中学阶段的不成功。
发现：四项调查结果显示了 SEL 在越南教育课程中整合的当前挑战：1）当前课程与教师教学能力之间的不兼容；2) 将 SEL 整合到教育活动中的困难；3）对理解学生心理的关注有限；4) 学生不能发展他们的社交情感能力。
讨论：当挑战可以解决时，对应讨论的解决方案，SEL 框架是否可以适当地融入越南教育，以及设计一个跨学校级别的综合连续 SEL 导向课程，以满足新教育课程的要求。

关键词：社会情感学习, SEL, 社会情感能力, SEC, 中学生, 现象学研究, SEL 整合