The Institute on Descriptive Inquiry invites you learn about and join in group processes to describe, look closely at, and reflect upon student and teacher work in order to enhance teacher and school practice.
November 15, 2025 * 9:00 am - 3:30 PM
City As School High School
16 Clarkson Street, New York, New York
Registration open! Click on "Fall Conference" above!
This one day conference introduces or reconnects participants to descriptive processes, allowing them to look deeply at the work and words of children and youth in order to strengthen their capacity to teach and learn alongside them.
The Summer Institute on Descriptive Process is an introduction to descriptive processes, or may serve to deepen understanding of them. This Institute’s work rests on close observation and description, giving teachers an opportunity to look at the work of children and youth from multiple perspectives, while also serving as a way of considering connections to and implications for teacher practice, curriculum, school policy, and assessment.
The Summer Institute on Descriptive Inquiry brings together teachers, parents and others who are familiar with descriptive processes. As they work from their experiences, ideas and questions, participants engage in spanning studies of children and works, philosophical inquiry and in depth study of the descriptive processes. Participants can opt to attend one or two weeks of the Institute on Descriptive Inquiry.
Written by leading practitioners and theoreticians of descriptive inquiry, these books are vital companions as you learn more about how descriptive processes can support your family, your classroom and your school.
New York State CTLE credit available for participants!
The "Institute on Descriptive Inquiry Inc." is an approved vendor for New York City Public Schools. The relevant vendor code is INS414215.
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Header photo: Hampshire College by Stephane Barile (2022).