DHB: Theory and Practice of Successful Schooling: The Nexus Between Academic Achievement and Social Emotional Competence

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

The health and well being of a nation as a whole and ultimately its individual citizens depend upon the future of its children, which is, in turn, largely dictated by successful schooling. Academic achievement and social-emotional competence are central to successful schooling but research indicates that they are not independent of each other. Children who experience problems in academic areas also tend to have difficulty in social and emotional competence. A scientific agenda for understanding how academic achievement and social emotional competence are related would have wide ranging implications for education and public health, both direct and indirect. This two day symposium brings together scholars from across multiple disciplines to forge a synthesis of two bodies of knowledge that have remained separate despite their links with successful schooling. The array of variables related to academic achievement (attention, emotion, motivation, interest) and social emotional competence (attention, interest, self-regulation, emotion understanding) is studied differently in various disciplines. Therefore, collaboration across disciplines is vital. This symposium, to be held at the University of Maryland, will provide a forum for an interdisciplinary dialog by inviting scholars with a wide range of expertise and perspectives to engage in a collaborative examination and synthesis of constructs, measures and research designs around networks of variables that are relevant to academic achievement and social-emotional competence within school settings. Pre-and post-symposium activities will assure that the scholarly exchanges are focused and that products of the working groups are disseminated. A wide range of disciplines contribute to the development of theories that guide the design of programs to enhance educational outcomes and the collaborative efforts of this symposium are expected to enhance the scientific agenda of the fields that contribute to the knowledge base of the educational enterprise.