DAP
Slide 3
The NAEYC Position Statement on developmentally appropriate practices reflect continuity and change in the early childhood field. This position statement preserves the enduring values of our field:
• commitment to the whole child
• recognition of the value of play
• respect and responsiveness to individual and cultural diversity
• Partnerships with families.
At the same time, it has responded to changing and expanding knowledge base about effective practices in addressing the above values as well as improving curriculum, teaching, and assessment. Principles can be viewed on page 10 – 15.
In light of new knowledge about the importance of the early years and the learning opportunities, we are repeatedly reminded of the core value that cuts across all of our work. We indeed want to help children to become productive and responsible adults: but we want their childhood years to be full of joy.
CHILDHOOD IS AND SHOULD BE ITS OWN SPECIAL TIME OF LIFE. It is our responsibility to cultivate children’s delight in exploring and understanding their world. Seeing children happy, physically and intellectually engaged in meaningful learning about their world and everyone and everything in it is the truest measure of our succrss as
ec educators.
Core considerations in dap. Pg. 9 #1. Read bold
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Looking at cultural differences more in depth. Pg. 46.
12 Principle that inform practice. Pg. 10 – 15.
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Because in the United States children’s learning opportunities often differ sharply with family income and education, ethnicity, and language background, sizable achievement gapes exist between demographic groups.
Achievement gaps emerge early in life and persist throughout the school years. With each school year, the gap grows larger without attention to these differences. And there re serious consequences for children and for
society as a whole. Narrowing the gaps must be a priority for ec educators.
When young children have not had the learning opportunities they requires in order to succeed in school, ec
programs need to provide even more extended and enriched learning experiences.
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We know that effective, developmentally appropriate curriculum is based on what is know about the interrelationships and sequences of ideas, so that children’s later abilities and understandings can be built on those already acquired.
A teacher’s moment – by – moment actions & interactions with children are the most powerful determinant of learning outcomes and development. Curriculum is very important, but what the teacher does is paramount.
Intentional teachers are well prepared to tell others – parents, administrators, colleagues – about what they are doing. Not only do they know what to do, they also know why they are doing it and can describe their purposes.
Both child-guided and teacher-guided experiences are vital to children’s development and learning. (Elaborate)
It is vital for ec settings to provide opportunities for sustained high-level play and for teachers to actively support children’s progress toward such play. We will talk later and at length about some children who do not knowhow to play.
Effective teachers are intentional in their use of a variety of approaches and strategies to support children’s interest and ability in each learning domain. Significant learning is embedded in play, routines, and interest areas. Effective teachers also provide carefully planned curriculum that focuses children’s attention on a particular concept or topic.
To ensure that teachers are able to provide care and education of high quality, they must be well prepared, participate in ongoing professional development, and receive sufficient support and compensation.
Teacher quality and effectiveness is a top priority. It takes teachers who are well trained to make good decisions about skills and concepts that children should learn , and what is the best way of presenting these concepts to young children.
Also valuable to teachers is interaction with mentors and peers. Meeting the needs of individual learners and helping all children to develop and learn require significant time for teachers to collaborate with colleagues., discuss and observe best practices, and participate in meaningful professional development. MENTOR PROGRAM.
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Creating a caring community of learners.
Children learn and develop best when they are a part of a community in which all participants consider and contribute to one another’s well being. To create such a classroom, teachers
• Get to know each child’s personality. Abilities, and ways of learning
• Make sure children get the support they need to develop relationships with others and feel part of the group
• Work to build a strong sense of group identity among the children “the circle of we”
• Create an environment that is organized, orderly, and comfortable for children
• Plan ways for children to work and play together collaboratively
• Bring each child’s home culture and language into the shared culture of the class; and
• Discourage tattling, teasing, scapegoating, and other practices that undermine a sense of community
How we interact with children shapes how they approach others, how the feel about themselves, how they develop and learn.
Teaching to enhance development & learning.
Using a wide range of teaching strategies is the teachers “tool belt”. The teacher selects the best strategy to use at any given moment, depending on the goals, the situation, and the needs of the child.
• Acknowledging : positive attention that tells the child your noticed “You wrote your name” “Thanks for your help”
• Encouraging: comments that promote the child’s persistence and effort “This is a hard one, but you are coming up with lots of ideas”.
• Modeling and demonstrating: showing the correct way to perform a procedure (e.g. how to hold a hammer or how to wash your face)
• Give directions: specific instructions for actions or behaviors. “Pour very slowly so we don’t lose any milk”
In these ways we are scaffolding children’s learning. Learning experiences that build on what children already know and can do, but also make them stretch a reasonable amount are the most effective ones. And they need time to practice the skills they are in the process of acquiring.
Planning appropriate curriculum.
Curriculum is knowledge and skills to be taught and the plans for experiences through which learning will take place. Curriculum guides teachers in developing and carrying out learning experiences that ate consistent with the programs goals for children. Children learn more in programs where trhere is a well-planned and implemented curriculum.
It begins with the question, “what should children who come out of the program know and be able to do?” Good programs have always recognized that children’s early physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development affects their future success and well-being.
Recently, professional organization have been placing greater emphasis on defining and evaluating key learning outcomes. Here are just a few examples:
Language and literacy:
• Predicts what will happen next in a story
• Identifies words that rhyme
Mathematics:
• Determines “how many” in sets of 5 or fewer objects
• Matches and sorts shapes
Socio-emotional Development:
• Shows increasing abilities to use compromise and discussion in working, playing, and resolving conflicts with peers.
And finally, teachers should do the following;
Use curriculum framework to give logical meaning to the classroom experience. Not a bits and pieces approach but one where activities relate to one another in a meaningful way.
Consider the developmental paths that children follow in determining sequence and pace of learning. Select materials with children’s interests and progress in mind.
Make meaningful connections a priority in curriculum planning. Connected and integrated curriculum, built on something children already know something about is more effective than curriculum taught in small, unrelated chunks. (e.g. themes and projects)
Slide 8
children’s progress toward those outcomes. This includes observing them and closely considering their work, a key for teaches in their efforts to get to know each child and his or her abilities. Assessment is a vital part of “meeting learners where they are.”
On an ongoing basis, we assess in order to
• Monitor children’s development &learning
• Guide out planning and decision making
• Identify children who might benefit from special services or supports, and
• Report and communicat with others
Assessing children in developmentally appropriate ways requires attention to what is
• Age appropriate…individually appropriate…culturally appropriate
Developing reciprocal relationships with families.
Making developmentally appropriate decisions for children means knowing them as individuals. And the younger the children, the more a teacher needs to acquire much of this knowledge through relationships with their families. Asking families about their children is a valuable strategy, but that’s all. It also conveys to parents that the teacher values their knowledge and insights.
The relationship we want to create is a two-way street, with communication and respect in both directions – that is, a reciprocal relationship. Creating two-way relationships with families means:
• Making parents welcome in the classroom and inviting their participation
• Create open dialogue (don’t come off as a know it all)
• Maintain frequent positive communication. Planned conferences, messages or letters sent home, day to day communication. Then anytime you do have a concern or question, you can raise it without the parents feeling threatened.
• Acknowledge parents’ choices and goals for their children. When there is a difference of opinion about what’s best, keep in mind that your goals is not to win, but to come to a meeting of the minds where both parties listen to each others’ concerns and views and together search for a solution that addresses shared goals for the child.
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Excellent teachers are intentional in all aspects of their role.
- Creating the caring community
- Teaching to enhance development & learning
- Planning curriculum to achieve important goals
- Assessing children’s development and learning
- Establishing reciprocal relationships with families
These various facets of the teachers role are blended into a whole (above) . Clearly these 5 facets are closely interrelated , and none can be left out or shortchanged without seriously weakening the whole.
To make sure your efforts to succeed as a teacher, you will need to take seriously all five aspects of practice and continually deepen and update your knowledge within each of them. The children you teach will learn and thrive.
Slide 10
This position statement continues to challenge the field to move from either/or to both/and thinking.
The call was in response to a recurring tendency in American discussion in education: the polarizing into either/or choices on many questions that were seen more postively as both/and.
For example, heated debates continue about whether children benefit more from either direct instruction or child guided activity. Really, each appropach works best for different kinds of learning, and elementsw of both can be combined effectively.
See. Example pg. 49 Science activity.
Read a selected few statements offered as examples of the many ways that ec practice draws on both/and thinking.