Developmentally Appropriate Practice Essay

When starting a new school year a teacher has new students whom they have to get to know pretty well. Prior to this new year, the teacher should have all of their expectations and goals in order; this includes the state standards and school standards. This introduces the idea of Developmentally Appropriate Practices, where teachers want to make sure that the goals they choose are difficult for the students but are also reachable goals as well (2009). Teachers have a good understanding for the grade they are teaching, meaning they can predict what a group of students are capable of and what practices to try to get the most development from their students (2009). Though they are really good at making predictions there are other outside factors that teachers need to consider.
DAP as the, Core Considerations of Developmentally Appropriate Practices, states that we know that DAP works because of “theory and literature how children develop and learn (2009).
Meaning that if they have an understanding of how the development in a child’s life progresses they can predict where their development may go next. This is not the case in all students, but for a majority it is. Teachers will have students who go from one stage of development to the next and they can predict that, but they may also have students who are struggling to catch up or who are not meeting milestones. Teachers need to also have an understanding that all children progress at different paces and times in their life. There are five ways that the, Core Considerations of Developmentally Appropriate Practices states that a teacher should implement DAP in the classroom through creating a caring community of learners, teaching to enhance and development and learning, planning curriculum to achieve important goals, assessing children’s learning and development, and establishing reciprocal relationships with families.

The caring community of learners is an easy yet hard goal to achieve, the teacher wants to make sure that “supports all children to develop and learn”. Every student needs to be accepted and valued and that all students respect the differences of other students. The teacher can achieve this by teaching about the different cultures within the classrooms, so that students have a better understanding of where the other children come from. The teacher needs to foster the exploration of new things. Another thing that helps students is a schedule that they can follow to know what to expect everyday, children thrive off of patterns. Next is teaching to enhance development and learning. Teachers need to let students interact with their peers but to also have teacher guided experiences as well. Planning curriculum to achieve important goals means, having state standards part of the curriculum. Assessing children’s learning and development is the next thing that the teacher should make sure they do in their classroom. Assessment is a big part of early education because it helps the teacher gage where the student is in the beginning of the school year as apposed to the middle or the end of the year. Lastly, teachers need to have a relationship with their students families because it can help the teacher better understand the help the student may be getting at home and what their home environment is for them (2009). Teachers need to incorporate many, if not all, of these strategies into their classrooms. If they want their students to excel in the classroom. If students do not feel safe and valued in an environment or if they do not have goals to meet and work towards no achievement can be made. As educators, your job is to make sure that all of the students that go through your classroom do their best and you help and tailor lessons to do so.