Tone As A Cause And Effect Of Learning
by Terrell Heick
In 20 Words That Can Affect How Students Think,, we said “Tone affects how students see themselves and their role in the learning process. In fact, a student’s own ongoing internal dialogue and thoughts about themselves and their self-identity as learners isn’t just a ‘factor’ in learning but one of the single most important factors.”
This is central to the principle and practice of Social-Emotional Learning (and strategies for social-emotional learning). It might be useful to take a quick look at some of the key ideas and underlying assumptions about tone in learning.
Tone As A Cause And Effect Of Learning
I. Tone matters. It affects human beings and students are human beings.
II. Tone can be notable in its ‘tenor’ and value as well as in its abundance or absence. That is, tone can be ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and there can be a ‘lot’ or a ‘little’ of it.
III. Tone can be both a cause and an effect. That is to say, tone can cause ‘something’ or be caused by something. For example, a lack of confidence can create an uncertain tone while another tone might create a distinct lack of confidence.
IV. As a factor in ‘climate,’ tone is closely related to mood and together they contribute greatly to that climate.
VI. Any climate created either is or is not intentionally conducive to creativity, collaboration, and learning.
VII. Students experience some kind of tone in every interaction (even if that tone seems more or less unremarkable—that’s a ‘clinical’ tone). That is, almost everything a student experiences in the learning process has ‘tone.’
VIII. Having established that tone affects students and is (through our word choice, among other factors) adjustable, that means that as teachers, we can adjust something that affects students.
IX. To make these adjustments, we have to know what tone is and how it’s adjustable.
X. Tone is complex and is explicitly and implicitly created through countless sources above and beyond our words but because our words are so easily adjustable, it makes sense to make that simple adjustment while we sort out the other factors that affect tone in the learning process.
