Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Education

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)

• DAP is a method that fosters each child's optimal development and learning, grounded in a strengths-based and play-based methodology.
• It emphasizes joyful and engaged learning, acknowledging the diverse strengths of young children.
• Educators who implement DAP recognize children as unique individuals and integral members of their families and communities.

Key Aspects of DAP in Preschool Curriculum

• Age appropriateness: The curriculum must align with the typical developmental milestones of the age group it serves.
• Individual appropriateness: Recognizing that children develop at their own pace, DAP involves tailoring educational experiences to the learning styles, interests, and current developmental levels of individual children.
• Cultural relevance: The curriculum should respect and reflect the cultural backgrounds of the students, using materials and examples that are culturally familiar to them.
• Play-based learning: DAP emphasizes the importance of play in early learning, incorporating a significant amount of play time that is both structured and unstructured.
• Holistic approach: DAP addresses all areas of a child's development, including cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and language development.
• Family and community involvement: DAP recognizes the critical role of families and communities in children's development, actively involving parents and community members in the educational process.

Principles of DAP

• Knowing each child is fundamental to DAP, taking into account their strengths, interests, and cultural backgrounds.
• Teachers need to know the expectations for children of a particular age and adjust their teaching methods accordingly.
• DAP is a triumvirate of ideas, balancing what is typically expected for children of a certain age against their individual experiences and cultural backgrounds.
• Intentional teaching is a key aspect of DAP, including guiding and directing children's learning experiences.

Benefits of DAP

• DAP creates a comfortable environment where children feel known and understood, leading to a positive self-image and a sense of belonging.
• It limits the likelihood of children using difficult behaviors to meet their needs.
• DAP provides a solid foundation for future educational success, fostering a love of learning and a sense of curiosity.

Preschool STEM Education

• At the preschool level, STEM education should focus on exploration and sensory experiences.
• Activities should be designed to encourage children to observe, ask questions, and make predictions about the world around them.
• Integrating STEM concepts into play-based activities helps children learn without pressure.
• Technology can be used to enhance learning, but it should not dominate the educational experience.
• STEM education should be integrated with other areas of learning, such as reading, writing, and social-emotional development.

Schemas and Cognitive Development

• A schema is a category of knowledge that helps us interpret and understand the world.
• Schemas are building blocks of knowledge, enabling us to form a mental representation of the world.
• Assimilation is the cognitive process of making new information fit into our existing understanding of the world.
• Accommodation is the process of changing our schema to understand new information that doesn't fit into our existing framework.
• Schemas can unconsciously alter our perception and memory, as demonstrated by Frederick Bartlett's "The War of the Ghosts" experiment.

The War of the Ghosts Experiment

• Bartlett's experiment showed that people tend to omit unfamiliar details, familiarize strange information, and rationalize the illogical when recalling a story.

• This experiment demonstrated how schemas can alter our perception and memory, and how we construct our experiences into a coherent narrative.### Schemas and Learning

• Schemas are mental frameworks that help us organize and understand new information.

• They are created through past experiences and form scripted patterns of thought.

• Schemas link together to form complex networks that aid in thinking and problem-solving.

Assimilation and Accommodation

• Assimilation is the process of fitting new information into existing schemas.

• It occurs when new information is similar to what we already know, and our existing schema can accommodate it.

• Example: A preschooler incorporating a new type of ball (foone ball) into their existing schema of a ball.

• Accommodation is the process of altering existing schemas or creating new ones to fit new information.

• It occurs when new information is unique and cannot be assimilated into our existing schema.

• Example: A preschooler expanding their schema of birds to include penguins, which do not fly, and learning that not all birds fly.

Schema Change and Adaptation

• Schemas can change and adapt to new information and experiences.
• This process is crucial for learning and remembering new information.
• Knowing that schemas can be changed or created means we can always adapt and learn new things.

The Role of Schemas in Memory and Perception

• Schemas play a key role in remembering information by organizing and retrieving relevant details.
• They also influence our perception of new information, as seen in the War of the Ghosts experiment.
• In this experiment, British students' schemas affected their recall of a Native American folk tale, demonstrating how schemas can alter our perception and memory.

The Importance of Understanding Schemas

• Understanding how schemas work can help us in school and everyday life.
• Recognizing that schemas can be changed or created means we can adapt to new challenges and information.
• This is key to becoming a lifelong learner and adapting to new situations effectively.