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Principles of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)

The document outlines 12 principles of developmentally appropriate practice based on child development research, emphasizing the interconnectedness of various developmental domains. It highlights the importance of individualized learning experiences, the role of relationships, and the significance of play in fostering children's development. Additionally, it stresses the need for understanding sociocultural contexts and providing challenges that promote growth in children's learning and motivation.

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France Bejosa
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18 views

Principles of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)

The document outlines 12 principles of developmentally appropriate practice based on child development research, emphasizing the interconnectedness of various developmental domains. It highlights the importance of individualized learning experiences, the role of relationships, and the significance of play in fostering children's development. Additionally, it stresses the need for understanding sociocultural contexts and providing challenges that promote growth in children's learning and motivation.

Uploaded by

France Bejosa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Principles of Developmentally

Appropriate Practice
The 12 principles of developmentally appropriate
practice, based on research in child development and early
learning, highlight the characteristics of children’s early
development and learning. NAEYC, 2009

1. Overlapping domains: All developmental domains


i.e., physical, social/emotional, communication, cognitive
and adaptive, are important and closely interrelated,
continually influencing one another.

Implication for learning: Promoting how young children


think, feel, move, and interact involves considering and
fostering their development and learning across all
developmental domains.

2. Sequenced knowledge and abilities: Many aspects


of children’s learning and development follow well
documented sequences, with later abilities, skills, and
knowledge building on previous ones.

Implication for learning: Knowledge of how young children


typically develop and learn guides team members in
designing learning experiences and interacting with
children in a supportive environment.

3. Development varies: Each child’s development


varies across different areas of his/her individual
functioning, as well as between individual children.

Implication for early learning: Decisions about selecting


curriculum, teaching strategies and materials, specialized
intervention and interactions with children should be as
individualized as possible.

4. Continuous interaction between biological


maturation and experience: Development is the result
of the interplay between a growing, changing child, and
how he or she experiences the social and physical worlds.

Implication for early learning: Systematic, individualized


intervention can minimize the impact of a delay or
disability on a young child’s learning and development.

5. Early experiences: Optimal periods exist for certain


types of development and learning.

Implication for early learning: Intervention and support


are more successful the earlier a problem is addressed.
Some aspects of development occur most efficiently at
certain points in the life span e.g., the first three years
appear to be an optimal period for oral language
development. Kuhl, 1994

6. Increasing complexity: Children’s development


builds toward greater complexity, self-regulation, and
symbolic or representational capacities.

Implication for early learning: Preschool children


communicate their thoughts and meaning through many
paths, including oral language, gestures and body
movement, visual arts (e.g., drawing, painting, sculpting),
construction, dramatic play, and writing.

7. Relationship dependent: Children need secure


consistent relationships with responsive adults and
opportunities to initiate and nurture positive interactions
with peers.

Implication for early learning: Positive adult-child and


child-child relationships promote children’s learning and
achievement, as well as their social competence and
emotional development.

8. Context-bound. Development and learning occur


within, and are influenced by, multiple social and cultural
contexts.

Implication for early learning: Team members need to


understand the influence of sociocultural contexts and
family circumstances on a child’s learning as well as on
their own perspectives and interactions.

9. Active engagement: Children learn in a variety of


ways as they actively seek to understand the world
around them.

Implication for early learning: Parents and early childhood


providers must select the best strategy(s) for each
learning situation, considering the learning goal, specific
context, and needs of individual children in the moment,
including those who may need more support than others.

10. Play is learning: Play is an important vehicle for


developing self-regulation and promotes language,
cognition, and social competence.

Implication for early learning: Play is linked to


foundational capacities such as memory, self-regulation,
oral language abilities, social skills, and success in school.
Hirsch-Pasek et al, 2009

11. Just right challenge: Learning progresses when


children are prompted and challenged to achieve at a
level just beyond their current mastery, and have many
opportunities to practice emerging and newly acquired
skills.

Implication for early learning: Team members use their


knowledge of early development to select strategies and
provide a rich learning environment that motivates
children to practice and mas-ter new and progressively
more advanced challenges.

12. Personal attributes: Children are shaped by the


impact of their experiences on their motivation and
approaches to learning (i.e., persistence, initiative, and
flexibility). These dispositions and behaviors, in turn,
affect their learning and development.

Implication for early learning: How children learn is as


important as what they learn. Children’s approach to
learning involves their feelings about learning (e.g.,
interest, pleasure, and motivation to learn) and their
behavior when learning (e.g., attention, persistence,
flexibility, and self-regulation).

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