The construct of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) has become a hallmark for educational practice in the United States. From DAP's initial publication in 1986 to the most recent revision published in 2022, DAP serves as a reference point for teacher education to support effective teachers' development and practice. However, DAP is a…

The NAEYC DAP position statement and book are widely used as guides for implementing equitable early learning in settings serving children birth through age 8. Building on the spirit of Sankofa, which in translation from the Akan expresses, 'It is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot,' this article documents the revision process for the…

Through an instrumental case study from a critical feminist lens, we explored college student gender and leadership identity development in a gender and leadership focused course. We examined FemCrit perspectives on knowing (exploration of socialization), being (reflection on identity development), and doing (recognition of gender performance and…

Service learning (SL) is both a pedagogy and philosophy adopted by many early childhood teacher educators. Extant research suggests the incorporation of service-learning can be effective for facilitating preservice teacher learning of curriculum, pedagogy, approaches to diverse learners and families as well as establishing a professional identity.…

In this paper, early childhood teacher educators describe their work to provide opportunities for pre-service teacher candidates to engage in specific practices that facilitate reflection and planning related to enhancing toddlers' engagement during free play. The practices targeted were structured by the instructor and supported by the mentor…

Although the social-emotional competence of preservice early childhood professionals (ECPs) has been associated with the quality of their interactions with young children, there is limited understanding of these associations during preservice training. Utilizing a sample of students with career goals in early childhood (N=473), we examined the…

This article describes the process teachers at a public elementary school completed to develop and implement a developmentally appropriate, race-conscious, anti-bias curriculum in all K-5 classrooms. The study focuses on the experiences of the teachers and children in three early childhood classrooms using a case study design. Data were gathered…

Analysis of self-reflections of undergraduate education students in a project involving web-supported counterintuitive science demonstrations is reported in this paper. Participating students (N = 19) taught science with counterintuitive demonstrations in local elementary school classrooms and used web-based resources accessed via wireless USB…

With the increased accountability of early childhood programs and the need to carefully document each assessment, teachers need to explore videotaping to enhance observational assessments. Observing children continues to be an effective method for understanding the uniqueness of each child's development. In this article, the authors present a case…

Adventure-based learning (ABL) consists of highly structured physical activity with periods of reflection (i.e., debrief) that help promote personal and social development. It can be used as a valid curriculum in physical education to promote intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships. This type of curriculum can also help physical educators…