IDP Resources

Strategies for Implementing Community Agreements in the Classroom

Dialogue is a specific form of communication that promotes connection, understanding, and inclusion, especially across differences. This resource includes practical strategies that the IDP team and our participants have found particularly helpful for implementing Community Agreements in classrooms and other academic settings. Academic units might also consult our Inclusive Curriculum Review Resource for a unit-wide review of curriculum.

 
 Strategy  What it looks like in practice  Community Agreement(s) and other goals supported
Model inclusivity early Many Community Agreements supported, such as:

  • Practice active and empathetic listening
  • Be both teachers and learners
  • Acknowledge judgments and assumptions, including our own

Other goals supported:

  • Model the practice, expectation, and impact of inclusivity in the classroom
  • Recognize students and yourself as individuals and agents in learning
  • Facilitate engagement, connection, and collaboration among students
Set expectations for not engaging with devices  Start the conversation by asking participants to close and put away devices (or just phones) unless they are needed to engage in the conversation. Community Agreements supported:

  • Practice active and empathetic listening
  • Be here now

Other goals supported:

  • Model how sharing intentional, engaged time impacts classroom connection and learning
Advocate for diversity mindsets When exploring complex topics, such as field priorities in research, design, development, and investment, explicitly frame differences as a source of value: “we are likely to have different perspectives, which will help us arrive at a fuller understanding of this topic and its underlying issues.”

When asking a question, explicitly encourage different viewpoints and perspectives. Ask students to reflect on and explain what informs their thoughts, feelings, and views, including their identities, lived experiences, and/or knowledge.

 Community Agreements supported:

  • Be both teachers and learners
  • Use “I” statements
  • Challenge the idea, not the person
  • Acknowledge judgments and assumptions, including our own

Other goals supported:

  • Model the impact and importance of overcoming socialized or expected preferences for agreement
  • Motivate participants to share perspectives that contrast with others
  • Help participants to identify gaps in their own thinking
Invite anonymous input before or during class Invite anonymous input during class using iClicker or online platforms such as Google Forms and Padlet. For example, use iClicker to ask scaled questions about agreement with specific statements or confidence in specific topics. Use Google Forms or Padlet boards to collect and organize open responses about questions, learning points, or areas of agreement and disagreement.

Share students’ responses with the group anonymously, e.g. print and post on the wall for a gallery walk, create a word cloud, display poll results, or collect responses in a shared document in which students can respond to each other.

 Community Agreements supported:

  • Stories stay, lessons leave
  • Challenge the idea, not the person
  • Acknowledge judgments and assumptions, including our own

Other goals supported:

  • Include those who feel less comfortable or inclined offering their authentic perspectives in a visible way
  • Surface the diversity of perspectives and understandings in the group and model the benefits of this diversity for learning, developing shared meaning, and collaborating
Use the “three hands” strategy After posing a question, state that you will wait for at least three participants to raise their hands to offer input before calling on anyone.

You can then call first on voices that have been quieter or those who you think will offer a fresh perspective. When possible, make sure to follow up by inviting in any others who raised their hands.

 Community Agreements supported:

  • Take space, make space
  • Be both teachers and learners

Other goals supported:

  • Make space for those who are quieter or need time to process before responding
  • Prioritize voices with new and/or key perspectives
Set an expectation of “no interruptions” Set this expectation by asking participants to refrain from responding or envisioning their response while someone is speaking, and noting that this is an essential demonstration of mutual respect and empathy. Interruptions or raised hands while someone is speaking indicate that the listener hasn’t listened fully. Community Agreements supported:

  • One microphone
  • Practice active and empathetic listening

Other goals supported:

  • Promote constructive communication, connection, and the development of trust and mutual understanding
Scaffold conversations

 

 Use small groups and think-pair-shares before building to a large group conversation to give all students the space to reflect on and share their perspectives.

For example, offer students a prompt and time for individual reflection, then send them to small groups with a reminder to share the space equitably. Then invite small groups to share key ideas with the larger group. Be mindful of group dynamics, e.g. who might need to take or make more space for their voice.

 Community Agreements supported:

  • Take space, make space
  • Be both teachers and learners

Other goals supported:

  • Highlight the importance and impact of hearing diverse perspectives
  • Promote connection, co-learning, and collaboration among participants
Use reciprocal learning strategies Promote deeper learning and collaboration with a scaffolded structure for students to expand and share their content expertise.

  1. Divide students into “expert groups,” with each group focused on a different key class topic or concept.
  2. Begin by having students individually review materials and/or think through a problem or question related to their assigned topic.
  3. Send students to their expert groups with prompts to discuss their topic, identify and clarify points of confusion, and strategize how to teach the topic clearly and compellingly to their peers.
  4. Structure cross-topic co-learning. For example, have expert groups create and present a mini-lecture on their topic to the class. Alternatively, or in addition, arrange students into project teams with experts in each topic. Have teams collaborate on a problem or question that connects topics.
 Community Agreements supported:

  • Be both teachers and learners
  • Take space and make space
  • Acknowledge judgments and assumptions (including our own)
  • Embrace discomfort

Other goals supported:

  • Enhance and deepen learning by setting an expectation of teaching
  • Promote collaboration by structuring opportunities for learning from others
  • Reinforce students’ skills for learning and communication with structured opportunities to expand and share their expertise
LARA Remind students of the goals and stages of LARA, which they all learned about during their Cornell Orientation. Encourage them to use this framework, and model using it in conversations.

Be generous in assuming intentions (and say this), but be courageous about sharing impact in a way that allows for dialogue.

Using LARA Resource

 Community Agreements supported:

  • Practice active and empathetic listening
  • Be both teachers and learners
  • Take space and make space
  • Trust intent, name impact

Many other goals supported, such as:

  • Use a shared framework and language for all to engage meaningfully with each other, especially across differences
  • Model the impact of intentional, honest, and open-minded discourse on co-learning, including your own
Reflect on the conversation After an important or challenging group conversation, ask each student to reflect on and share one thing they learned. Alternatively, ask students to share an idea or moment that challenged them, or a lingering question they have. Lessons might be shared using think-pair-shares, small group conversations, or a large group go-around. Whenever possible, instructors should participate in this reflection as well. Community Agreements supported:

  • Stories stay, lessons leave
  • Use “I” statements
  • Be honest with ourselves and others
  • Challenge the idea, not the person
  • Trust intent, name impact

Other goals supported:

  • Model the impacts of introspection, humility, and openness on learning
  • Model current knowledge in your field as evolving and as an outcome of the collaborative co-generation of ideas
  • Promote students’ sense of ownership, agency, and capacity in the group and in their learning

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Cite this IDP Resource:

  • APA: Intergroup Dialogue Project. (2022, October). IDP Resource: Strategies for Implementing Community Agreements in the Classroom. Intergroup Dialogue Project – Dialogue Across Difference. https://idp.cornell.edu/idp-resources/idp-resources-community-agreements-in-the-classroom/
  • MLA: Intergroup Dialogue Project. “IDP Resource: Strategies for Implementing Community Agreements in the Classroom.” Intergroup Dialogue Project – Dialogue Across Difference, Cornell University, October 2022, https://idp.cornell.edu/idp-resources/idp-resources-community-agreements-in-the-classroom/
  • Chicago: Intergroup Dialogue Project, “IDP Resource: Strategies for Implementing Community Agreements in the Classroom,” Intergroup Dialogue Project – Dialogue Across Difference, Cornell University, October 2022, https://idp.cornell.edu/idp-resources/idp-resources-community-agreements-in-the-classroom/