From Another Angle: Children's Strengths and School Standards : The Prospect Center's Descriptive Review of the Child

by Himley, Margaret; Carini, Patricia F.; Prospect Archives and Center for Education and Research

• ISBN13: 9780807739310
• ISBN10: 0807739316
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-01
• Publisher: Teachers College Pr

Summary

This volume represents the first effort to present,and teach, the descriptive processes, philosophy, and values developed at the Prospect Archives and Center for Education and Research in North Bennington, Vermont. Through story and essay, it introduces a disciplined, collaborative method for understanding children as thinkers and learners called the descriptive review of the child. Developed through the Prospect Center, under the leadership of Patricia F. Carini, the descriptive review is a mode of inquiry that draws on the rich, detailed knowledge teachers and parents have of children and on their ability to describe those children in full and balanced ways, so that they become visible as complex persons with particular strengths, interests, and capacities. In an educational climate that calls increasingly for standardization, this book is a timely resource for educators, parents, and administrators who value individual human capacity.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction A Page from the Prospect Album	1	(7)
Patricia F. Carini
Prospect's Descriptive Processes	8	(15)
Partrcia F. Carini
PART I LEARNING THE DISCIPLINE OF DESCRIPTION
Gabriel	23	(33)
Context	24	(2)
Elaine Avidon
Planning the Review	26	(10)
Mary Hebron
Karen Khan
Reflective Conversation on a Word: Enough	36	(2)
Elaine Avidon
Descriptive Review of the Child	38	(11)
Karen Khan
Response: From the Incredible to the Possible	49	(4)
Elaine Avidon
Mary Hebron
Afterthoughts	53	(3)
Karen Khan
A Letter to Parents and Teachers on Some Ways of Looking at and Reflecting on Children	56	(9)
Patricia F. Carini
The Role of the Chair: Joining with Another Teacher	65	(22)
Betsy Wice
PART II TAKING A DESCRIPTIVE STANCE
Victoria	87	(39)
Context	88	(3)
Lynne Strieb
Planning the Review	91	(9)
Tara Shaw
Lynne Strieb
Betsy Wice
Descriptive Review of the Child	100	(9)
Tara Shaw
Response: Questions and Recommendations	109	(13)
Rhoda Kanevsky
Afterthoughts	122	(4)
Tara Shaw
Descriptive Inquiry: ``Language As a Made Thing''	126	(9)
Margaret Himley
The Descriptive Stance: Prospect Teachers Writing	135	(14)
Ellen Schwartz
Anne Martin
Karen Woolf
PART III USING DESCRIPTIVE INQUIRY IN SCHOOL SETTINGS
Nile	149	(33)
Context	150	(2)
Cecelia Traugh
Descriptive Review of the Child	152	(9)
Kiran Chaudhuri
Response: Questions and Recommendations	161	(16)
Afterthoughts	177	(5)
Kiran Chaudhuri
Whole-School Inquiry: Values and Practice	182	(17)
Cecelia Traugh
The Value/s of Oral Inquiry, or ``You Just Had To Be There!''	199	(14)
Margaret Himley
Appendix Prospect Resources and Related Publications	213	(6)
Prospect-Related Publications	215	(4)
Karen Woolf
References	219	(4)
Children's Literature Cited	223	(2)
About the Editors and Contributors	225	(2)
Index	227