The Connection Between Social-Emotional Learning & Academic Achievement

I just finished an email in response to a request for some research links relating social-emotional learning with academic achievement.  This communication provided me an opportunity to revisit some of the work I've done over the years and to reflect on why and how I believe that ANYONE engaging in the learning process -- whether as a student or as a student-of-the-student (read teacher) can only prove more effective if they understand and can leverage the power of positive emotions and curiosity.  Whether we call this establishing rapport, creating a therapeutic alliance, identifying with the learner, championing the individual and/or meeting the student where s/he is, it all relates to interpersonal relationship, attachment and/or the impact one individual has on another.  The neuro-imaging and brain science of late is providing visible proof of what we've known to be true for eons.  Here's just a sampling of the work that is out there:

My interest in the intersection of emotions and learning, combined with the practical needs of creating lesson plans around learning targets and engaging students in the learning process has resulted in my own biases and beliefs, but ultimately, I like the BRAIN PROOF models that discuss the science behind the touchy-feely stuff of psychology.   — Feel free to read on if you like…

• The most recent and significant work I’ve seen that relates to “raising healthy 35 year-olds” or as an elementary school principal recently put it, “making our children awesome” comes from Daniel Siegel’s work on the Developing Mind — Originally published in 1998, and reprinted in 2012, his The Developing Mind provides the science and details of interpersonal neurobiology that inform his more recent books: Mindsight and Brainstorm.
• Carol Dweck’s work on Mindset has been informed by and feeds into the neuroscience and psychology of learning —  Jennifer Mangels' work explores the connections between engagement, curiosity and deep learning, particularly in middle-school math and science classrooms. In her presentations, Dr. Mangels offers images that provide an idea of the neuromonitoring her lab does as they study response to failure, resilience/persistence and self-awareness.
• Mary Helen Immordino-Yang does a great amount of work at the intersection of neuroscience and education. She’s produced videos for educators through the Annenberg Education foundation.  Her images are particularly “cool,” I think. She speaks passionately and smartly about the neurobiology of social-emotional learning, and you can find her on a TedTalk —  [Mary Helen’s work takes the more science-specific work of various researchers (Damasio, Siegel, Baron-Cohen, Dahaene, etc.) and relates it specifically to education.]
• Finally, Judy Willis has spent much of her career generating visible proof of the relationship between social-emotional well-being and learning.  A not-too-recent (2007) article from Educational Leadership (ASCD) lays it out rather nicely.