This essay entails a critical review of the origins, discourses and contemporary manifestations of NAEYC's enduring commitment to 'developmentally appropriate practice' (DAP); and proposes a reconceptualisation of DAP as an open question and incentive for place-based collaborative inquiry. Brief discussion of ECE's early history highlights…

This critical cross-cultural study examined the alignment of the 2022 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards in the U.S. with Australian, Kenyan, and Nepali educational guidelines. Previously, NAEYC's educational guidelines adhered to Euro-Western notions of child development, with a biased view of normative…

This paper describes a nature-based social-emotional approach to supporting young children's holistic development that can be applied in a range of early childhood settings from forest kindergartens and nature-based preschools to more traditional center-based early childhood programs. "The Social-Emotional and Environmental Education…

This article examines critical issues related to teacher decision-making in early childhood music classrooms. Through the story of one teacher's experience, we take a closer look at specific criteria to guide decision-making, and strategies to deepen awareness of young children's needs in the music classroom and guide instructional…

A key educational reform proposal made in 2000 is to build a new culture for quality early childhood education through upgrading professional competence. Teachers are an important element of high-quality, developmentally appropriate early childhood programs. The Teacher Beliefs and Practices Survey (TBS) based on 2009 NAEYC Developmentally…

A decade ago I wrote an article entitled "Technology as play" in which I called for early childhood educators to rethink the way in which they regard play. This involved not only incorporating the notion of playing with new technologies but also critiqued the essence of what constituted play and the link with learning that was viewed…

The guidelines published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children on the use of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) have, over the last two decades, had an important influence on young children's educational experiences. The efficacy of these guidelines for changing children's outcomes has been examined by only a…

Early childhood programs strive to provide good-quality care and education as young children develop their physical, emotional, social, and intellectual skills. In order to provide children with positive, developmentally appropriate learning opportunities, educators ensure the safety and security of children, indoors and outdoors. The outdoor…

Young Children and the Arts: Nurturing Imagination and Creativity examines the place of the arts in the experiences of young and very young children at home and in out-of-home settings at school and in the community. There is great need for development of resources in the arts specifically designed to introduce babies and toddlers to participatory…

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which a preschool program followed the recommendations outlined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in their joint position statement "Early Childhood Mathematics: Promoting Good…

Well-informed teachers of young children recognize the importance of children's social development. The development of social skills lays a critical foundation for later academic achievement as well as work-related skills. Social development is such a key issue with young children that a number of methods to address social skills have been…

Argues that developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) as presented in the revised guidelines of the National Association for the Education of Young Children gives equal attention to age, individual, and cultural appropriateness, and therefore is appropriate for everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, culture, race, gender, age, or special…

Suggests that the National Association for the Education of Young Children guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice are supported by modern values of stability and certainty. Maintains that there is a shift to a new world view, based on views that human beings are subjects; science cannot be value-neutral; and that context affects what…

The Iowa Prekindergarten/Kindergarten Task Force prepared this report in response to the following charges: to develop recommendations for strengthening existing kindergarten programs and to design a plan for implementing appropriate prekindergarten programs. Among the report's recommendations are that: (1) the Iowa Department of Education…

Responds to Lubeck's critique of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) guidelines and their underlying premises. Maintains that guidelines are a starting point for decision making, that not all DAP classrooms look the same, and that it is important for early childhood educators to be knowledgeable regarding developmental milestones.…