Tone as cause and effect of learning.
by Terrell Heick
In 20 words that can affect the way students thinkWe said, “Tone affects how students view themselves and their role in the learning process. In fact, a student’s ongoing self-talk and thoughts about himself and his identity as a learner is not just a “factor” in learning, but one of the most important factors.”
This is central to the principle and practice of social emotional learning (and strategies for social emotional learning). It might be helpful to take a quick look at some of the key ideas and underlying assumptions about tone in learning.
Tone as cause and effect of learning.
I. Tone matters. It affects human beings and students are human beings.
II. Tone can be noted for its “tenor” and value, as well as for its abundance or absence. That is, the tone can be “good” or “bad” and there can be “a lot” or “little.”
III. The tone can be either a cause and a effect. That is, tone can cause “something” or be caused by something. For example, lack of trust can create one uncertain tone, while another tone could create a clear lack of confidence.
IV. As a “climate” factor, tone is closely related to mood and together they contribute greatly to that mood.
VI. Any climate created is whether or not it is intentionally conducive to creativity, collaboration, and learning.
VII. Students experience some type of tone in every interaction (even if that tone seems more or less ordinary: it is 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 choice of words, 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 pitch is and how it can be adjusted.
X. Tone is complex and is created explicitly and implicitly through countless sources beyond our words, but because our words are so easily adjustable, it makes sense to make that simple adjustment while sorting the other factors that affect tone into the learning process. .
