This dissertation explores the perceptions and understandings of K-6 general education teachers regarding their role in intentionally developing students' emotional competencies. This research builds upon that which establishes the vitality of developed emotional competencies by including the perceptions of teachers who have been tasked with working directly with students' social-emotional development. The goal of the study was to offer an approach to understanding teacher knowledge and preparedness regarding social-emotional learning in the general education classroom to provide a clear understanding of how teachers' classroom experiences have shaped their perceptions of intentionally nurturing students' social-emotional development. The guiding research questions of the study were: (RQ1) What experiences and understandings do teachers have in developing and nurturing students' social-emotional competencies in the K-6 classroom. (SQ1) What are teachers' practices of intentionally integrating social emotional development in the general education, K-6 classroom? (SQ2) What SEL knowledge or skills to teachers need to make an intentional effort to nurture students' social emotional competencies based on incorporating the guidelines established in "What Does SEL Look like in the Classroom?" (Yonder & Nolan, 2018). Upon analyzing the rich, narrative data of participants, the findings included that based on the experiences of the participants, the social-emotional development of students plays a vital role in their holistic success and has vast academic and nonacademic implications. It was important that teachers had experience in implementing a structured social-emotional learning program and/or curriculum and even still, there was vast expressions of inadequacy. Themes and subthemes drawn from the evidence included: (Theme 1) Developing students' emotional identities is vital to holistic education: (1) Social-emotional development is tied to student behaviors; (2) Social emotional development is tied to academic associations and success and/or failures; and (3) Teachers recognize demographic trends among students with underdeveloped social-emotional competencies. (Theme 2) Intentionally integrating SEL through a structured program has not been effectively implemented at the research site: (1) Teachers report overwhelming academic responsibilities overshadow SEL implementations. (Theme 3) Teachers reported a lack of adequate training to implement a successful SEL program. [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://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]