Using Descriptive Process and 

Reflective Conversations to:

• Develop a strength-based stance toward children and families that counters the deficit lens so often applied to our students

• Create political ground to reimagine school as public and democratic space, supporting equity, diversity, and complexity

Observation and description of children and their works are central to this Institute. We will use Prospect’s Descriptive Processes to study individual children and the writing, drawing, painting, model making, talk, and other “works” they produce in their classrooms. A core of the work the group does together is describing from spanning collections gathered at Children's Community School in Van Nuys, California and also found in the Prospect Archive of Children’s Work housed now at the University of Vermont Special Collections. Participants are urged to bring collections of children’s work with them for the purpose of describing. Readings will be emailed to registered participants well before the start of the Institute.

Everyone will take part in Descriptive Reviews of the Child, Descriptive Reviews of Work, and Reflective Conversations. The context for our inquiry is formed both from our shared recollections of ourselves as learners and from reading about and discussing issues such as standards and values, school culture, race, and gender. The Institute is designed to serve “returnees” as well as first-time participants. Those who are new to these processes will get to know them well. Participants, who are more experienced, but not yet confident in the role of chairperson, will be asked to act as facilitators, helping presenters prepare and co-chairing groups. We also encourage groups from the same school to attend together. This enables schools to begin to use the Descriptive Processes as part of their ongoing work. 

FACULTY

The faculty of this Institute consists of educators who are deeply knowledgeable about the Descriptive Inquiry Processes and ways of thinking about educational practices and issues. 

   QUESTIONS? 

Please contact info@idiprocess.org with questions about the Institute or to be added to our mailing list for future announcements.