The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to develop an understanding of the lived experiences of educators who are responsible for implementing SEL strategies in alternative education settings serving kindergarten through twelfth grade students. The daily education practices and strategies in SEL continuously change, and the new SEL competencies have presented a significant challenge for classroom teachers that lack the expertise and professional training to appropriately address the social and emotional needs of the students in their classroom. This study of alternative educators' experiences was grounded in Fullan's (2011) theory; Fullan's six components are theories themselves and are applicable to those who are working in the rapidly changing education world. These six components are six secrets of change and include loving your employees, connecting peers with purpose, the capacity the building prevails, that learning is the work, that transparency rules, and systems learn. The findings of this study indicated that teachers felt significantly unprepared to teach social emotional learning skills to their students because they themselves were not appropriately educated on the topic of social emotional learning. The findings of this study recognize the gap in research about how unprepared teachers were for implementing social and emotional learning strategies in their alternative education classrooms. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]