Response to Sally Lubeck's “Is Developmentally Appropriate Practice for Everyone?”

Teaching Practices in Taiwan's Education for Young Children: Complexity and Ambiguity of Developmentally Appropriate Practices and/or Developmentally Inappropriate Practices

“…The distinct differences between the DAP and DIP of the four teachers were determined by how much freedom was given to the children in terms of choosing activities and curriculum topics, how comprehensive and diverse the learning materials were, and how much opportunity for discussion was offered. For example, in Yi-Ping and Bi-Fang's classrooms, children had enough time to engage in learning activities in depth (Charlesworth, 1998b), had opportunities to express their ideas and organize their thoughts, and had various learning materials to allow them to choose activities that interested them. In contrast, Hui-Mei and Ya-Chi relied too heavily on the teachers' textbook guidelines instead of designing learning activities based on their knowledge and understanding of their students.…”

“…In fact, the DAP Guidelines are tools that allow teachers to examine, and improve the effectiveness of, their teaching. All classroom decisions should rely on teachers' knowledge and understanding of their students (Kostelnik, 1992;Bredekamp, 1993;Charlesworth, 1998b).…”

Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Kindergarten: Factors Shaping Teacher Beliefs and Practice

“…Developmentally appropriate practices, as defined by NAEYC, emphasize the developmental level and learning style of the whole child in terms of physical, social, emotional, and cognitive needs (Charlesworth, 1998b). This view asserts that children learn actively through physical and social experiences to construct their own understandings of the world around them.…”

An Alternate Approach to Studying Beliefs about Developmentally Appropriate Practices

“…Although the revised version addressed many of the criticisms of the 1987 version (e.g. Mallory & New, 1994), there is a continuing debate about the nature of what have been referred to as appropriate practices and inappropriate practices (see Charlesworth, 1998aCharlesworth, , 1998bLubeck, 1998aLubeck, , 1998b.…”

“…Even those researchers who are perhaps the most vociferous proponents of the 1997 DAP document stress 'the need to move beyond the either/or polarizing debates in the early childhood field' (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997, p. vi;emphasis in original). Similarly, Charlesworth (1998aCharlesworth ( , 1998b has consistently reinforced considering the both/and principle, noting the context dependency of individual ECE practices. In essence, it is reasonable to suggest that the same activity may be appropriate or inappropriate for different people, in different circumstances, at different times.…”