What early childhood educators know about developmentally appropriate practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-23
Author(s):  
Josh Thompson ◽  
Zlata Stanković-Ramirez
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate Practice ◽  
Early Childhood Educators ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Early Childhood Care ◽  
Childhood Care ◽  
Over Time

The National Association for the Education of Young Children recently revised its Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP), the standard for early childhood care and education. Josh Thompson and Zlata Stanković-Ramirez explore how DAP has evolved over time and what guidance it provides early childhood educators regarding the interaction between typical waves of child development, children’s individual characteristics, and social and cultural context.

Program Development, Assessment, and Evaluation in Early Childhood Care and Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 1206-1224
Author(s):  
Asil Ali Özdoğru
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Program Development ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate ◽  
After School ◽  
Early Childhood Programs ◽  
High Quality Research ◽  
Assessment And Evaluation ◽  
Early Childhood Care ◽  
Childhood Care ◽  
Development Assessment

Early childhood years are a fundamental period of development in human lifespan. Infant and toddler care programs, early childhood education services, after-school care programs, and parenting programs are foundational in the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development of children. Development of quality early childhood programs can be realized through consideration of various elements of quality. Early childhood care and education (ECCE) program designers should aim to develop safe, healthy, responsive, engaging, and developmentally appropriate programs. Program curriculum, which takes place at the heart of program development, should also be responsive to children's needs and interests to construct meaningful, age-appropriate, and play-based learning experiences. Ongoing assessment and evaluation are integral part of quality ECCE program development. Early childhood assessment consists of child-level and program-level assessments. Assessment of children's developmental outcomes and program environmental characteristics play key roles in the development and evaluation of ECCE programs. Even though there are many available tools of assessment, common features of quality assessments include reliability, validity, purposefulness, and universality. Evaluation of early childhood programs makes use of different methodologies designed to study program process, outcome, impact, and cost-benefit. Development of quality early childhood care and education programs need systematic planning, implementation, and monitoring through the use of quality assessment and evaluation methodologies. This chapter provides a synthesis of the current state of knowledge in program development, assessment, and evaluation in early care and education based on high quality research studies coming from a variety of fields.

scholarly journals Early childhood care and education in the cultural context of aotearoa (New Zealand)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Ritchie
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Cultural Constructs ◽  
Narrative Assessment ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Care ◽  
Childhood Care ◽  
Te Whāriki

© 2018 Taylor and Francis. Early childhood care and education in Aotearoa (New Zealand) has been celebrated through the international interest in the innovative sociocultural curriculum, Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 1996). This document is now 20 years old, and is at the time of writing being updated by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. 1 In this chapter, a brief overview of the historical and cultural contexts of early childhood care and education leads into a discussion of some key cultural constructs and values that are recognised in Te Whāriki; in particular, those of the Indigenous people, the Māori. Discussion of the narrative assessment models that were developed to support the implementation of Te Whāriki is followed by an outline of implications for teacher education. The chapter ends with some reflections on aspirations for the future of early childhood care and education in Aotearoa.

The DAP Debate: Are we Throwing the Baby out with the Bath Water?

2001 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maree Aldwinckle
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate Practice ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Australian Context ◽  
Bath Water

Responses to the standardised guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), as developed by Bredekamp in America, have sparked a debate about the usefulness of DAP as an approach to early childhood education. Australian commentators have joined this debate and are beginning to question the application of DAP in the Australian context. This article attempts to put the DAP debate into perspective by comparing aspects of the American and the Australian perspectives. Understandings of child development as a key determinant of early childhood practice are examined. Problems with detailing and articulating the evolving knowledge base from which early childhood educational practice is drawn are acknowledged. Further, the usefulness of following American trends that may not be applicable to the Australian scene is questioned.

scholarly journals PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRESCHOOLS OF JIGJIGA CITY ADMINISTRATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 17-32
Author(s):  
Yigzaw Haile ◽  
Abdirahman Mohammed
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Preschool Teachers ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
Mixed Design ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
City Administration ◽  
Early Childhood Care ◽  
Childhood Care ◽  
Age Appropriate

The main purpose of this study was to assess practices and challenges of preschool education in Jijiga City administration. Mixed design was employed (both quantitative and qualitative) for this study. 19 preschool centres (6 public and 13 private preschools) were randomly selected for the study. 51 preschool teachers (12 teachers from public and 39 teachers from private teacher) were selected.  A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data in which 57 items were filled by preschool teachers which are dealing with Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) practices. Interview, FGD, observation and document analysis were used to triangulate the data collected using questionnaire. Percentage and thematic analysis were used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The main findings revealed that preschool practices in all sampled preschools were found to be below standard, unable to use local stories since teachers were not from the community and knowledge of parents, teachers and principals towards contribution of the preschool was found to be limited. It was found that 82.4% of the preschool had no early childhood care and education qualification, and 70.6% of the preschool teachers did not agreed that all sampled preschools had inadequate classroom space, 64.7% of the preschool centres did not have age appropriate chairs. Similarly, 76.5 % of the preschool had no any out-door playing material and 100 % of all preschool did not used approved curriculum and lack of appropriate teaching used in most of the preschool were some of the main finding.  The Ethiopia Somali Regional Education Bureau is recommended to address shortage of trained ECCE teachers, develop standardized ECCE curriculum, applying developmentally appropriate content, materials, and teaching methods, use locally and culturally appropriate materials and assign teachers who can speak the local language of the community.

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