Description

A covenant captures the beliefs that people in a school and its immediate community hold about exemplary teaching and learning. A school's goals, objectives, activities, curriculum, and instructional practices are filtered through the question: Are they within the letter and spirit of our covenant?

A covenant of teaching and learning allows a school to embrace certain instructional practices that are consistent with the beliefs of the school community, as well as to discern practices that are not. Without a covenant to help define and clarify a school's beliefs and practices, the collective energy of the individuals in the school is often fragmented or focused on the immediate issues of the day rather than on what all would agree, in their more reflective moments, should be done to achieve the long-term goals of the school community.

It is important that a covenant of teaching and learning reflect the voices of everyone in the school. The collegial discussions and deep reflections about teaching and learning that go into creating a covenant are crucial. A covenant written in isolation deprives those not involved of the experience of participating in a collegial dialogue about their deeply held and often time unexamined beliefs about teaching and learning. A covenant that doesn't reflect all voices in the school will not likely serve as a guide to people's work.

Q & A

1. What is a covenant? How is it different from a mission statement or vision statement or school philosophy?

A covenant is a document which states guiding principles of teaching and learning based upon school's beliefs. In other words, the covenant defines exemplary teaching and learning for a school. It is a jargon free, living document which unifies and guides instructional focus.

A covenant differs from other documents not so much in name as in content, purpose, and process. Mission statements, vision statements, and school philosophies tend to be more general statements of what a school wants to accomplish or what they believe about the overall purpose of the school. A covenant is specifically focused on the teaching and learning process. It serves as a practical guide to the classroom practices of teachers and students. This is what the League believes good teaching and learning looks like. Activities that are in line with a covenant are observable.

2. Why develop a covenant--what purpose does it serve? Who should be involved in its development?

The development of a covenant serves several purposes. The covenant focuses the shared governance process of a school. It can be used to guide, monitor, and filter the decisions and actions a school takes. By providing, such a focus, the covenant can keep a school from diffusing its resources and energy.

The development and implementation of a covenant can also help build a collective sense of ownership, responsibility, and direction. The process of developing a covenant bonds members of the school to one another and undergirds the existence of the entire school organization. Thus, all members affected by the covenant should be actively involved in its development. The process of developing a covenant should value all members of the school community, including teachers, administrators, parents, students, and members of the surrounding community.

3. How is a covenant connected to life in the school? That is, once you have developed a covenant-what's next? Are there ways to use the covenant to assist in school improvement efforts?

Once a covenant is developed, it is used to inform and monitor teaching and learning. A school might begin by asking itself what it would expect to see, experience, and feel in its classrooms, hallways, and media center if its covenant is being lived. Similarly, a school might use its covenant to determine what instructional materials would be resent in classrooms, how classrooms would be organized, and what sort of lessons one would expect to observe. Furthermore, a school can use its covenant to examine the roles and relationships that exist between faculty and students, faculty and administration, faculty and faculty, and students and students. Overall, the covenant serves as a "reality check" for all instructional activity within the school. Therefore, covenants should be posted in hallways and classrooms.

A vast majority of what goes on in a classroom is guided by the covenant. Student assignments, tests, teaching techniques and activities are all guided by the covenant. Covenants should also guide a school's assessment efforts, teacher and student awards, staff development, and teacher recruitment, hiring, and evaluation. Newsletters should cover how a school is doing in bringing its covenant to life. Principals should constantly connect their actions with the covenant. Similarly, district administrators need to understand a school's covenant so they won't impose pro-rams or curriculum that are not in line with their schools' covenants. A covenant should have implications for PTA activities, and parents should understand the covenant so that they can help bring it to life through their interactions with their children. Finally, the students themselves should know about the covenant so they can be active partners in bringing it to life.