The Power of Community Agreements: A Non-Negotiable Guide to Foster Belonging & Safety

Table of Contents

What are Community Agreements?

Why Community Agreements Matter for Schools

How to Create Community Agreements

One Last Thought

As educators, we spend a lot of time thinking strictly about what we’ll teach - the standards, the lessons, the outcomes. We rarely pause to ask how we want to learn and grow together. 

That “how” is where community agreements come in. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, a school leader, or facilitating professional learning, community agreements create the shared language of belonging and safety. They remind us that Maslow must come before Bloom and that relationships are the foundation of learning for both children and adults.

Additionally, they are a lighthouse to guide the work we do so that we stay true to who we want to be and how we want to treat each other

Back in 2024, I wrote about five different strategies to stay positive in education and combat toxicity. One of these strategies is community agreements, which we’ll dive into in this week’s post. 

Co-creating community agreements takes time, but it is a process that is well worth the effort and can begin shifting a culture toward excellence. 

What Are Community Agreements?

Community agreements are not posters of generic rules imposed upon individuals. They’re living, breathing commitments created with participants to guide their work and the larger learning environment. 

They define how a group wants to engage: how we’ll listen, share, disagree, and repair when conflict or harm arises. They’re an anchor for moments when conversation gets hard, which will inevitably happen. Additionally, they are a lighthouse to guide the work we do so that we stay true to who we want to be and how we want to treat each other

Why Community Agreements Matter for Schools

1. Nurture safety and trust

When individuals co-create the norms that guide them, they feel seen and valued. Agreements signal that everyone matters and so does their voice. That sense of safety allows for deeper engagement and risk-taking, which are needed for real learning to occur.

They define how a group wants to engage: how we’ll listen, share, disagree, and repair when conflict or harm arises.

2. Elevate equity

Community agreements help surface whose comfort we’re prioritizing and whose might be overlooked. When everyone helps write the norms, quieter voices gain protection and space to speak. 

As a recovering introvert, I've always appreciated this about community agreements - I felt my voice could come through among the cacophony of the extroverts who dominate the conversation.

3. Give language for conflict and repair

Disagreement is inevitable, but disrespect doesn’t have to be. Community agreements give us a guide to return to when emotions rise. Simply reading the agreements at the start of every meeting can help refocus the group and guide the work.

Additionally, if you notice the group is steering off track, a simple reminder like, “Which of our agreements will help us navigate this moment?” can help steer the group back on course. 

4. Build accountability

A community agreement is a touchstone and should not be weaponized. It gives us shared language to revisit and reflect. They allow us to be the best version of ourselves as we reflect,  “Did we live up to what we promised each other?” Being consistent with reflection builds credibility and, ultimately, trust.

How to Create Community Agreements

Two years ago, we had Responsive Approaches and Executive Coach, Lindsey Lynch, guide our school in the creation of the agreements. This allowed me to be a participant.

So, before getting started with the how, I would recommend having an outsider help guide the work. If this is not possible, then the leader of the group could facilitate and move back and forth between participant and facilitator. 

Here are four steps to follow to create your community agreements:

Step 1: Begin with belonging

Starting out individually, starting with an open question:

“What do you need to feel respected and heard?”

“What helps you do your best thinking?”

Participants jot down their thoughts on sticky notes so everyone has the opportunity to gather their thoughts. Then, participants work in a small team to group or code the different stickies.

Once the teams have the stickies coded, they then try to write short sentences (ideally 3-5) that capture their table’s stacks of stickies. 

Step 2: Draft as a whole group

Once the small teams have their 3-5 sentences, all teams return to the larger group, working together to cluster each team's sentence stems. 

Once the sentence stems are clustered into 3-5 sections, new small groups come together around each section and rewrites the sentences into a new affirmative statement.

At the end of this final group brainstorming, you will have your community agreements.

Step 3: Keep them visible

Hang your community agreements where everyone can see - the staff lounge, in classrooms, near the mailboxes…. everywhere. Also, have each community member sign the agreements so that the commitment is a joint one.

However, I must warn that the agreements need to become part of your culture and not just the words on the wall. We must hold each other accountable to those agreements and be honest with ourselves when we stray. 

Step 4: Revisit and revise

Community changes. So should your agreements. Whether that is at the start of the new year or every few years, build in reflection moments to determine whether or not those agreements are still serving your team.

One Last Thought

Community agreements are not about control; they’re about care. 

When educators model this level of intentionality - naming values, revisiting them, repairing when we fall short - we teach far more than content. We teach what dignity looks like in practice.

And that, more than anything, is what transforms a group of individuals into a community.