Community Agreement: Make Space, Give Grace | TeachingTalks by Columbia Faculty
Sep 22, 2025
In this video, Isper Crissey, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor of Nursing at the Columbia University Medical Center, shares how she uses the community agreement “make space, give grace” to create a respectful learning environment in her classroom where all students feel comfortable to speak up, and feel valued as a member of the class community. To learn more about setting community agreements, as well as access resources on a variety of teaching and learning topics, visit the Columbia University Center for Teaching and Learning's website at ctl.columbia.edu.
Hello, my name is Dr. Isberg-Gracie and I teach the Science of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
at the MDE program. I will share a strategy called Community Agreement. Our Community Agreement is
titled Make Space, Give Grace. I use this strategy in my course because I want to create a safe and
where everyone feels comfortable to freely and respectfully speak up in class. To make students
feel valued as a member of the class and the community we've all created, I want to impart to
my students the importance of giving grace to each other and most importantly to themselves.
That we all make mistakes and to take this moment as a learning experience to grow both
academically and personally. I learned this strategy, Community Agreement, last summer
when I participated in the Active Learning Institute Summer Seminar. Here is how I
approach this strategy and facilitate it. At the very beginning of the semester, on the very first
day, I introduce what a Community Agreement is, its purpose, and how is the class we will implement.
I explain to the class how I value the importance of creating and maintaining a safe learning
environment for everyone, the students, TAs, and me as the teacher and facilitator of their learning.
I explain to the class how I value everyone's opinion and that I welcome a healthy discourse.
I remind the class that we will not always agree on everything but we should always be respectful
of each other, to give grace, and to listen to each other, make space. I learned from this experience
that creating a Community Agreement sets the tone of the class and helps establish a safe learning
environment. To some extent, it empowers everyone and makes them feel valued as a member of a
community who shares the same learning goals. Somehow, students who normally would not speak
up in class feel safe to speak up and participate in the discussion. But as a teacher, I need to set
the tone and be the role model. If you're interested in using this strategy, one tip I would like to
offer is to make the Community Agreement a living document. First, have the Community Agreement posted
in Canvas. And if you are using a projector in your classroom, always post the Community Agreement
at the beginning of each class. Another tip for instructors, be humble. Sometimes it is instructors
who need grace and we should admit our mistakes and thank our students when they show us grace.
It is one way to humanize us to our students and it goes a long way in the teaching and
learning experience and creating a more inclusive classroom.