What are shared agreements?

A shared agreement is when people all agree on the same rule or idea so they can work together better.

Imagine you and your friends are playing a game with marbles. At first, everyone wants to take turns however they like, but it gets confusing and messy. So, you all decide that everybody takes one turn at a time, and no one can interrupt. That decision is a shared agreement because it’s something all of you agreed on so the game goes smoothly.

Shared agreements are like invisible rules that help people understand what to do or expect from each other. They don’t have to be written down, just talked about and followed by everyone involved.

For example, when you're playing tag at recess, you might all agree that if someone is "it," they can't run until the person who was tagged says “You’re it!” That’s a shared agreement that makes the game fair and fun for everyone.