What Is Developmentally Appropriate Practice

I was not familiar with “developmentally appropriate practice” prior to reading Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs. The book reaffirms my belief that teachers need to know their students and empower them to reach goals that are both challenging and achievable. Teachers and parents want their children to be successful, so understanding the importance of DAP helps in developing a teacher/parent partnership that is sustainable. One of the founding principles of DAP is educators need to keep in mind that children need to be met where they are. All teaching should be appropriate to a child’s age and developmental status, encouraging them to be unique and responsive to their social and cultural contests which they live outside of the classroom. DAP does not suggest a standard needs to be set and individual students need to figure out a way to reach it. DAP does
not suggest learning should be easier or allow slow learners to move forward. DAP does mean that teachers should ensure goals and experiences are challenging and suited to a child’s learning and development capabilities. DAP is based on how children learn and develop.
Since teachers make decisions, both long-term and short-term, as these decisions are made, teachers need to keep in mind the identified goals for children learning and development and be intentional in helping children achieve these goals. The core of developmentally appropriate practice lies in this intentionally, in the knowledge that practitioners consider when they are making decisions, and in their aim for goals that are both meaningful and achievable by the students. Reading the “Developmentally Appropriate” versus “In Contrast,” I was surprised at the number of instances I was getting it wrong and not providing deliberate, developmentally appropriate responses. For example, when children do not readily find a place in the group, I would not take active measures to facilitate them towards full inclusion. In this example, I should actively seek to ensure that all children including children with special needs are included in the social relationships, play, and learning experiences of the
classroom. Another example is that in order to save time or trouble, I would do things for children that children could do themselves. DAP suggests teachers ensure that the environment is safe, healthy, and conducive to children’s exploration and independence, and then provide attentive supervision. With safe boundaries teachers support children’s exploration and learning of new skills (cutting with a knife), climbing an outdoor climbing structure). Another example is my desire to follow routines, allocating blocks of time for activities. DAP suggests teachers allocate extended time periods in learning center (at least 60 minutes) so that children are able to get deeply involved in an activity and sustain dramatic play, construction, and other activities at a complex level. Most teachers want to have classrooms that are inclusive and offer an environment that is consistent with learning best practices. However, without a clear understanding and ongoing practice of developmentally appropriate practices, we sometimes fall short. Understanding that the meaning of an excellent teacher means being intentional. In addition, to be an excellent teacher means creating a caring community of learners = families, assessment, and curriculum, teaching. When I look back on successful teachers I have encountered, the ones that seem to be in tune to how children are learning over what they are learning seems to demonstrate their willingness to intentionally embrace developmentally appropriate practices in every aspect of their teaching experience.
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