Using Descriptive Inquiry to Make and Do Philosophy in School

Abstract

This piece describes how the faculty of City-As-School used Descriptive Inquiry to generate shared educational principles during the 2020–21 school year during the coronavirus pandemic. City-As-School is a public experiential learning school in New York City serving older adolescents seeking an alternative to traditional high school. Descriptive Inquiry is an inquiry process developed by Patricia Carini and faculty at the Prospect School in Bennington, Vermont, that supports educators in understanding children and their own educational practice to teach for human dignity, ethical well-being, and holistic growth. The piece provides an introduction to City-As-School and briefly describes how faculty members have used Descriptive Inquiry to foster whole school professional learning and growth. The piece then details how the faculty used Descriptive Inquiry to surface and concretize shared educational principles during the 2020–21 school year, a poignant example of Patricia Carini’s notion of “making and doing philosophy in a school.”