Summary
Contents
In this engaging text, author Dr. Cathy Nutbrown, a leading academic in early childhood education, identifies and explains key terms and practices central to the work and study of early childhood in this accessible reference text. Key Concepts in Early Childhood Education and Care is a must-read for practitioners working with children from birth to the end of the foundation stage, and for students following courses in early childhood education and care. It details key issues, identified in a survey of over 300 practitioners in the field, and provides reading and reference sources to assist practitioners and students in identifying further material to support their work.
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Brief definition Developmentally Appropriate Practice is the design and development of curriculum and pedagogy based upon agreed stages of children's development.
Summary Outline:early childhood programmes; NAEYC; twelve key principles; research issues – curriculum, the zone of proximal development, schematic development, communities of learning, Te Whāriki, equality of opportunity, developmental needs of young children; examples from practice – construction, dramatic play; references and indicative further reading.
Origins and Definitions
In America the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has defined ‘developmentally appropriate practice’ thus:
… teachers integrate the many dimensions of their knowledge base. They must know about child development and the implications of this knowledge for how to teach, the content of the curriculum – what to teach and when – ...