Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Culture, Curriculum, Connections

This study explores the implications of developmentally and culturally appropriate practice for early childhood education. Selections from classroom journals and personal narratives of 30 early childhood educators are presented to provide the context for the examination of the use of developmentally appropriate practice as a curricular base for early childhood programs. The capability of developmentally appropriate practice to respond to cultural diversity is analyzed and several questions are addressed Whose experiences are represented by developmentally appropriate practice? Whose ways of knowing are validated by developmentally appropriate practice? Teachers participating in this study noted that developmentally appropriate practice often failed to acknowledge the roles of culture, care-taking, inter-connectedness, and multiple ways of knowing in the teaching-learning experiences of young children. Their voices add the critical perspective of the practitioner to the consideration of what constitutes "appropriate" early childhood curriculum.     

Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Culture,Curriculum, Connections

This study explores the implications of developmentally and culturally appropriate practice for early childhood education. Selections from classroom journals and personal narratives of 30 early childhood educators are presented to provide the context for the examination of the use of developmentally appropriate practice as a curricular base for early childhood programs. The capability of developmentally appropriate practice to respond to cultural diversity is analyzed and several questions are addressed Whose experiences are represented by developmentally appropriate practice? Whose ways of knowing are validated by developmentally appropriate practice? Teachers participating in this study noted that developmentally appropriate practice often failed to acknowledge the roles of culture, care-taking, inter-connectedness, and multiple ways of knowing in the teaching-learning experiences of young children. Their voices add the critical perspective of the practitioner to the consideration of what constitutes "appropriate" early childhood curriculum.     

Mathematics in Early Childhood: Research-Based Rationale and Practical Strategies

Mathematics education is a critical part of the curriculum for students worldwide. The foundation for understanding mathematical concepts related to number sense begins early in life, and early childhood classrooms can provide the seeds for mathematical skills that will be needed later in life. In this article, the authors make a case for meaningful and developmentally appropriate mathematics experiences for young children in diverse early learning settings. Instructional and curricular methods inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach are described as effective ways to teach number concepts to young children from preschool through primary age. Strategies for teachers of young learners are presented in order to strengthen the mathematics curriculum in contemporary early learning settings. The authors’ analysis and recommendations are informed by their extensive experiences including studies in Reggio Emilia early childhood settings (infant toddler, preschool, and primary schools) and their work in early childhood teacher education at their respective universities.     

Missing the Boat with Technology Usage in Early Childhood Settings: A 21st Century View of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

Technology use permeates virtually all aspects of twenty-first century society, though its integration in early childhood settings and recognition as a developmentally appropriate practice remains problematic. A position is taken that education professionals may be ‘missing the boat’ by not embracing technology usage as a developmentally appropriate practice. Concerns are presented that both preservice education and inservice professional development require substantial improvement if early childhood education professionals are to both recognize the role of technology in developmentally appropriate practice and develop skills in using it in classroom settings.     

Early childhood literacy: Creating a better world

Abstract

Problem‐posing teaching using multicultural children's literature nourishes an integrated literacy curriculum that supports young children's meaningful learning. This method encourages integrated learning that is both developmentally and culturally meaningful through interacting with story, reading literature, and participating in related learning activities. The problem‐posing method was developed by Paulo Freire [Education for Critical Consciousness, Seabury, New York] and critical pedagogists. The method leads students of any age, experience or ability level to base new learning on personal experience in a way that encourages critical reflection. This method has not been widely used with younger learners, but lends itself well to integrated early childhood literacy development.

This article shows selected qualitative data samples from case studies of early childhood teacher education students as they experience the method in a literacy course and as they use the method with young children. A critical analysis of the students’ work draws out key points regarding literacy development in a rapidly changing world. The teacher education students’ work provides an arena for developing the theory further as they implement theoretically‐based pedagogy with young learners. Data reveal issues regarding critical literacies and postmodern approaches to early childhood education.     

Developing a Data-Driven Assessment for Early Childhood Candidates

ABSTRACT

Decision-making is essential for the work of teaching. Preservice teachers must learn to leverage knowledge about young readers’ strengths, needs, and interests in order to plan and teach guided reading lessons skillfully. However, limited research examines preservice teachers’ decision-making based on what they know about individual children. In this qualitative case study, we report findings from 12 preservice teachers enrolled in a reading methods course who used teacher knowledge to inform their teaching decisions for guided reading lessons with Kindergarteners. Findings reveal how participants used knowledge of learners to make planning as well as in-the-moment teaching decisions. The data show that most of these decisions were lesson planning decisions about text selection and word solving strategies, indicating that participants were beginning to engage in responsive teaching strategies. This study makes a new contribution to early childhood teacher education literature by underscoring the significance of learner knowledge in the context of authentic teaching practice while learning to teach guided reading to young children.     

Between a rock and a hard place in the primary grades: The challenge of providing developmentally appropriate early childhood education in an Elementary School Setting

Primary grade teachers attempting to implement developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) in their classrooms must contend with the competing professional paradigms of early childhood education and elementary schooling. In this article I describe the practices of one primary grade teacher to give a picture of how these tensions play out in one public elementary school setting. Though the practices of the teacher studied here embody some aspects of developmentally appropriate practice, they are also marked by problems with personal interpretation, partial adoption, and inconsistency in implementation of DAP principles. Analysis of this teacher's experience provides insight into the general challenge of implementing DAP as well as into the specific challenges facing primary grade teachers committed to developmentally appropriate teaching.     

EXAMINATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD PRACTITIONERS’ GENERAL PERCEPTION OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN YOUNG CHILDREN

This study attempts to explore and discuss preschool teachers’ perception of gender differences in young children through their verbal expression. The teachers (Study I, n —121, Study II, n= 31) in this study perceive female preschoolers as positive and sensitive learners. While many learner qualities such as inventive, problem‐solver, builder, hands‐on, questioning, etc. are identified more often for boys than girls, overall the teachers’ perception of the boys’ group is less “teachable” and “easy to work with” than the girls group. In addition, one of the most intriguing and concerning observations is that girls are perceived as “passive learners” and therefore they are more “teachable” than boys. As implications of the study, the paper discusses an important understanding of gender‐fair and gender‐congruent pedagogical awareness for developmentally and culturally appropriate practice in early childhood education.

This study was originally presented at the 1999 AERA Annual Meeting, April 19‐23, Montreal, Canada, and was titled Examination of Preschool Teachers’ Biased Perception on Gender Difference.     

Time,work, and developmentally appropriate practice

What makes it so difficult for teachers in early childhood settings to construct developmentally appropriate practice? Through case studies, this article explores the role of time, its organization, and how this organization intersects with the practical knowledge of individual teachers and with the discourse of developmentally appropriate practice. Three teachers, each from a different child care center, are presented: Jill who took for granted the organization of time as a rigid production schedule, Sonia who coped with intense constraints and time organized as a rigid production schedule, and Liz who reorganized all aspects of her program (including time) to aim for developmental appropriateness. When time as a rigid production schedule was taken for granted by teachers, opportunities for developmentally appropriate practice were obstructed in ways teachers could not easily identify or reflect upon. Time dominated as the determinant of events. Time was a scarce resource and teachers were rushed by time pressures which undercut children's play and the program which teachers prioritized. Program content and quality were lost. I raise this tacit acceptance of time organization as a problem, and suggest a reexamination of time organized as a production schedule in programs aiming to be developmentally appropriate.     

Using the newspaper to support children's emerging literacy

Young children's literacy development involves emerging knowledge, skills, and attitudes about both written and oral language. However, until relatively recent years, children's oral language development has received the lion's share of attention in most early childhood programs. What young children know about written language and their natural ability to learn about writing and reading have been underestimated and misinterpreted and so have received little developmentally appropriate support from early childhood program administrators, teachers, parents, and the public.June Rose Richie is Associate Professor of curriculum and instruction, while Janet E. Foster is Assistant Professor and John M. Johnston is Professor of early childhood education, at Memphis State University, Memphis, TN.     

OP-ED

There is a general consensus that too many US children are entering school without essential readiness skills. However, there is a lack of consensus as to what constitutes readiness and a corresponding lack of consensus as to the type of early childhood experience that is most likely to prepare children for academic success. This paper offers a perspective, grounded in theory and practice, on issues of readiness and education during the preschool and kindergarten years. This perspective involves a view of human development that stresses the role of adult involvement in young children's learning and emphasizes the preschool years as atime for building cognitive skills that will serve as essential foundations for later academic learning. Images drawn from practice in Korean early childhood classrooms illustrate how teacherdirected activities may foster preschool children's development of these essential cognitive foundations in a developmentally appropriate manner.     

Developmentally appropriate criteria for evaluating sexual abuse prevention programs

Many sexual abuse prevention programs originally designed for school children are inappropriately used with preschool children. Programs used with young children need to take into consideration their unique learning abilities. This paper uses a developmentally appropriate practice framework as a guide in helping early childhood professionals evaluate sexual abuse prevention programs.     

苏姗·霍兰德幼儿教育技术学术思想研究

苏姗·霍兰德是美国幼儿教育技术研究与实践的开拓者,其发展适宜性的幼儿教育技术学术思想对美国学前教育信息化发展产生了重要影响。研究评述了其对幼儿教育技术的开拓性贡献,并从技术观、幼儿教育软件评价、技术与幼儿课程整合、使用家庭计算机四个方面,对霍兰德的幼儿教育技术学术思想进行了系统梳理。     

Quality early childhood education in Costa Rica? Policy,practice, outcomes and challenges

High‐quality early childhood education has been shown to improve school outcomes in several developing and developed nations. The history of policy around pre‐school education in Costa Rica is described as background to presenting cross‐sectional data on the emergent literacy skills of low‐income Costa Rican children in kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade from six schools (n?=?335). These data suggest that Costa Rican children show rather limited emergent literacy knowledge at the end of kindergarten. In addition, instruction in nine kindergarten classrooms is described and evaluated in order to provide vignettes of educational practice. The need for developmentally appropriate practice around emergent literacy skills and articulation with 1st grade is discussed and appropriate professional development is called for.     

The Impact of an Ongoing Professional Development Program on Prekindergarten Teachers' Mathematics Practices

Mathematics is a natural part of daily life for young children as they explore and investigate the world around them. To build on these experiences, and to begin establishing a mathematical foundation, early childhood educators must not only be knowledgeable about mathematical concepts, they must also be aware of the most developmentally appropriate ways in which to teach these concepts to young children. After participation in an ongoing professional development program, specifically targeting teachers of prekindergarten children in public school, Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities (PPCD), Head Start, and child care settings, teachers reported positive changes in math practices. Specifically, teachers reported a stronger alignment to national mathematics standards and increased awareness pertaining to developmentally appropriate mathematics practices as they apply to early childhood classrooms. Teachers reported a shift towards more hands-on activities and a shift away from the use of worksheets in their prekindergarten classrooms. Implications from this study suggest that ongoing professional development that is designed to meet the specific needs of early childhood educators can have a positive impact on reported mathematics content knowledge and instructional practices.     

How early childhood teacher beliefs vary across grade level

The continuum of beliefs reported by early childhood teachers (Head Start through third grade) and how those beliefs relate to classroom practice were explored in this article. Head Start, kindergarten, first-, second-, and third-grade teachers’ beliefs and self-reported practices were measured by three different instruments. These included the Early Childhood Survey of Beliefs and Practices (Marcon, 1988), and the Teacher Beliefs Scale (Charlesworth et al 1990 and Charlesworth). Each classroom was also observed using the Classroom Practices Inventory (Hyson and Vartuli 1992). The belief measures were moderately correlated and observed practices supported what teachers reported as their beliefs and practices. Beliefs were significantly more appropriate than practice at every grade level. As the grade level increased the level of self-reported developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices decreased. The same held true for observed practice. Teachers in first, second, and third grade did not rate developmentally appropriate practices as high as Head Start and kindergarten teachers. Teachers with fewer years of teaching experience and those with certification in early childhood education were more likely to believe in and use more developmentally appropriate practices.     

Playing at School: An Inquiry Approach to Using an Experiential Play Lab in an Early Childhood Teacher Education Course

Play is considered an important activity of the early childhood years. Research supports the contribution of play to children’s development, learning, and well-being. In spite of this, time for play is being pushed out in many early childhood programs by greater time allotted to formal instruction in narrow academic skills to be tested eventually by standardized tests. As a result, current preservice teachers are likely to see fewer examples of appropriate time and support for play in their field placements in early childhood settings. The purpose of this study was to document and analyze what happens when an experiential play lab is implemented in an early childhood teacher education program. This qualitative study includes multiple forms of data collection, including two forms of reflective writings and group discussions. After the workshop, preservice teachers made a greater number of references to play in their defense of developmentally appropriate practice, and the nature of their references to play increased in their focus on play process and on teacher roles in children’s play, as compared to prior to the lab. The results of this study of an experiential play intervention support its potential as a means of probing, documenting, and enriching students’ understanding of the importance of providing for and supporting play in classrooms for young children.     

A critical reflection on using food as learning materials

Abstract

As early childhood teacher educators, we are thoroughly immersed in conversations about developmentally appropriate practice. Whether teachers should incorporate the use of food as learning materials is a case in point. As with many other concerns we ponder in our field, our task must be to define, clarify, and consider multiple perspectives in the pursuit of a rational justification of our position. In this paper we report the results of our careful review of theory and research that leads us to propose that using food as art material violates principles of best practice for three main reasons, because it: (1) teaches young children that it is acceptable to eat play materials and to play with food, (2) teaches young children that it is acceptable practice to waste limited resources, (3) violates many premises of multicultural education, or teaching children about diverse ethnic groups.     

Using Clicker 5 to Enhance Emergent Literacy in Young Learners

Best practices in emergent literacy instruction for young children acknowledge and facilitate the smooth progression between children’s early engagement with print materials and subsequent fuller literacy mastery. In so doing, model programs target five key emergent literacy skills. The rapid rise in the breadth and depth of educational technology, including computer software, is offering early childhood education professionals new and powerful tools in teaching early literacy. This paper offers a brief review of best practices in emergent literacy, notes the growth of technology in this instruction, and examines the potential contributions of one specific software program, Clicker 5, in helping diverse emergent literacy learners acquire and practice initial reading and writing skills.     

Kindergarten Teachers’ Beliefs Toward Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Jordan

The objective of this study was to examine the beliefs of Jordanian kindergarten teachers toward developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). The sample consists of 285 (14.9%) randomly selected teachers working in public and private kindergartens. A questionnaire with two parts, (1) general information and (2) teachers’ beliefs regarding DAP, was developed to answer the research questions. The items were distributed into the five dimensions of early childhood professional practice that were published by the National Association for the education of young children (NAEYC). The findings indicated that the overall mean score of kindergarten teachers’ beliefs on the five dimensions was 4.08, indicating high beliefs toward (DAP). Teachers endorsed DAP on all dimensions except establishing reciprocal relationships with families. The findings also indicated that there are no significant differences between the means of teachers’ beliefs toward teaching children according to teachers’ level of education, years of experience, or teacher’s age (except in the caring community of learners and the development and learning domains). In the light of the findings of this study, some recommendations are presented.