Education of Young Children - Essay Example

DAP and DEC Recommended Practices In your own words, what are the key elements of DAP In its position paper adopted in 1996, the National Association for the Education of Young Children defined developmentally appropriate programs as "programs that contribute to children's development" (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1997, p. 4, "Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through 8"). This definition underscores the key elements that make up DAP which are focused on the future of children, how they would eventually perform after primary education and furthermore, how they would adopt themselves to the greater community or society that they belong to when they become adults. However, "the preparation" context of DAP does not neglect the fact that more and more knowledge are being discovered regarding the significance or uniqueness of childhood that should merit the attention and commitment of educators, parents, government and communities alike - thus, DAP is consequently becoming more attuned to the ever-current needs of the child. DAP also recognizes the individual child as much as the diversity of the socio-economic and cultural environments that contribute to the differences in children's perceptions that they carry with them while attending early education. There are certain elements that make developmentally appropriate programs well suited to the aim of supporting the development of children in their education. These are knowledge or information used to come up with learning programs, the learning environment which is the dynamic interface between children and the educators, whether inside or outside the school system, and the policies which serve to institutionalize the mechanisms that make DAP continuously responsive to its aims. Knowledge as a key element of DAP allows educators to come up with learning programs and applications that are guideposts on what will work or not for the development of children. Knowledge includes the established or known attributes of young children that make them different from other age groups. Knowledge also partakes in every child's unique strengths, weaknesses and interests which allows DAP to be in tune to the individual differences among children. Furthermore, knowledge of varying socio-economic and cultural contexts as applied in DAP allows for relevance among children and families coming from different backgrounds. The learning environment as an element of DAP encompasses the interface between young children and the all the actors such as teachers, families and other children. It also includes the inter-related practices of teaching, developing curricula and the feedback processes that go with DAP. The learning environment is where social interactions and relationship skills are developed, that is why DAP is committed to fostering a safe and caring environment for young children. Continuous assessment of how children fare in learning programs also constitutes an important facet of the learning environment. Policies also constitute an important element of DAP in as much as they make learning programs committed to the development of young children viable. These include formal mechanisms that would set up personnel with the needed expertise, funding and other guidelines that serve as rules when certain expectations under DAP are not met. 2. What are the underlying values of DEC Recommended Practices According to the Division for Early Childhood of the Council (no date) for Exceptional Children or DEC, Recommended Practices are important because RP "represents collective wisdom, identifies what practices work, provides a framework to define quality, supports positive outcomes and applies to all settings". Instead on focusing on the larger framework of locating the child in the greater milieu of the education system or the society and to a certain extent and taking off from there, the approach is more evidence-based and is more geared towards what is practical and works. The experience and professional wisdom of teachers and facilitators are given as much weight, if not more so, than research-based practices when validating programs that will be effective or not. The values of DEC Recommended Practices can also be gleaned from their "overarching goal" which is focused on meeting the specific needs of children with disabilities. So while DEC's RP also builds on the foundation of educational programs for all children, their values are dictated so as to serve the needs of children who are considered not able to display learning abilities similar to the great majority of "normal" young children population. The experience and professional wisdom of teachers and facilitators are given as much weight, if not more so, than research-based practices when validating programs that will be effective or not. Thus, two values that underlie DEC Recommended Practices are that they are one, child-focused and two, family-based. Practitioners using DEC's RP recognize that being child-focused means that many children will require individualized planning and support in learning situations since children with disabilities have their own ways of learning. Children in this setting would have to be given free choice or free play in how they would go about in their learning curves. Spontaneous learning and independence of mind are given weight so that children in a way choose what they want to learn and facilitators or practitioners take it from there. Children by their nature, almost universally recognized, are exploratory and tend to discover things on their own, without rote teaching from adults - an aspect recognized and valued by DEC. Teachers and facilitators also need to join in the activities so that children could proceed from learning to sharing with their peers. The interaction mainly stems from the free play where children are able to build on their discovered knowledge by interacting with other people. Moreover, being child-focused means that every individual child is given attention and practices and learning programs are flexible and geared towards meeting the needs of every child. DEC Recommended Practices also value the family as the bedrock of stability in which learning of children with disabilities could proceed. Children with disability compared with the normal children population need their families so much more and the support and presence is even more crucial when learning and socializing with people outside the family comes. While normal children have been observed to be able to become more and more adjusted with socialization, children with disabilities on the other hand, face repeated challenges as they go up the ladder of learning and socialization. Instead of entrusting the clear-cut learning responsibility to the school, being family-based means that practitioners engage in a partnership with the family to come up with what the family identifies as appropriate outcomes. Practices in this case are also in turn are suited to meet the specific needs and situations of each family. Having this approach is meant to strengthen the coping mechanisms and the functioning of the family with regards to the caring and learning needs of the child. 3. How compatible are DAP and DEC Recommended Practices Both DAP and DEC Recommended Practices are of course geared towards coming up with programs that address the continuing challenges and improvement of early childhood education. From this common goal, certain similarities exist, although the focus and methodology may differ. Also the stakeholders remain the same, from the young children in need of learning programs, to the educators and practitioners, to the parents and the families who are primarily concerned with the welfare of their children and the greater society which look at children as a distinct group who shall inherit the future and at the educators, researchers and practitioners who bear the responsibilities in guiding, molding and supporting young children. While the DEC is a group with priority on children with disabilities, its goal also includes the improvement of learning programs for all children. On the other hand, the NEAYP's DAP recognizes that young children who are disabled or differently abled would benefit when they are allowed to be included in settings where the majority of their peers are. This is even backed by legislation, in which The American with Disabilities Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education make it compulsory that all childcare education programs make accommodation to those with disabilities. Both DAP and DEC are committed to quality and to continuing improvement of learning programs. In its rationale for its position statement adopted in 1996, the NEAYC (1997, p. 3) stated that based from research findings, good quality childcare are a predictor of positive outcomes while poor quality childcare tend to result in negative effects on children. Furthermore, children who receive quality childcare tend to engage in "more complex play, demonstrate more secure attachments to adults and other children and score higher on measures of thinking ability and language development." On the other hand, the DEC has stated that its overarching goal is to build on the foundation of quality programs for all children. Since both are committed to quality, then it also necessarily implies that both will use ways or methodologies to be able to come up with quality childcare programs. Both DAP and DEC Recommended Practices utilize research-based knowledge to come up with programs that will continuously provide for the intellectual, social and environmental needs of children in which they will feel safe, free and cared for. For NEAYP, it uses inter-related dimensions of knowledge to come up with learning programs - those which use general knowledge of what is known about young children as a group, knowledge of individual variation among this group and the greater context of socio-economic and cultural from where young children are coming from. DEC's recommended practices on the other hand, is a systematic gathering and review of published research and articles on early childcare where for instance, among the 1000 + articles reviewed, at least 82% had at least one recommended practice (S.A. Mulligan and L. Chandler, no date). Both DAC and Recommended Practices are also compatible in their recognition of the roles of families in early childhood learning. NEAYP states that all early childhood programs will have different goals because they serve different individuals and families, but it recognizes that collaboration with families is essential in establishing goals. For DEC, the family in itself is a primary partner in early childhood learning programs. 4. What are the primary differences between the two The primary differences between DAP and DEC's Recommended Practices stem from the fact that the focus and the clientele served are different. With these, of course, the methodologies and approach would tend to vary, although they may intersect in some parts. The focus of DAP is the inclusion of every young child in the developmentally appropriate programs whoever they are and in whatever diverse background he or she comes from. The tendency of this focus is to integrate every individual child in the system - including those which DEC mainly serves, young children with disabilities. The DEC on the other hand, while it also seeks to contribute to the foundation and quality of learning programs for all children, the group is committed primarily to meet the specific needs of young children with disabilities. The DAP's ever expanding focus also necessitate that it should also be dynamic in the way it seeks inputs from both the academic fields and their findings on early childhood experiences, and how learning programs should respond to these. Moreover, the ever changing societal, economic and cultural environments have to be taken into consideration so these will be integrated on what constitutes developmentally appropriate programs. DAP necessarily looks at the ability to keep up with changes so that young children and practitioners are able to respond and develop within the context of the environments and the new findings in the academic field. On the other hand, DEC Recommended Practices are more in tune to the present and as-they-arrive needs of young children since the values are mainly placed on the validity of children's freedom and individuality - not necessarily to what goes on in the system of early childhood learning programs. While research or knowledge both plays a key role in DAP and DEC Recommended Practices, the loop of where practice and evidence are located are not the same. DEC's Recommended Practices as they are, are more evidence-based or empirical while DAP is more driven by systemic changes in the environment or general findings or principles for which it is based. NEAYP for instance, in coming up with its position statement on DAP, enumerated twelve core values or principles that guide its position of what constitutes developmentally appropriate practice. All of these twelve principles are based on the comprehensive, cumulative and in-depth research findings about children, their cognitive and social perceptions and learning development, and the contexts of where children grow up and how learning occurs in these environments. From these principles, educators, professionals, parents and other parties are guided on coming up with what is so called developmentally appropriate practice. Application or practice follows from learning and taking into assumption these core values or principles. The approach on the other hand of Recommended Practices is the product of observations and "collective wisdom" rather than mere generalizations from research findings. The practices are applied in view of what has worked and apparently, what will continue to work, until evidence proves otherwise. Since for example, children have been observed that they could discover for themselves what they want to learn, facilitators should follow the children's lead and build on what the child prefers, rather than making structured curriculum to be taught. What DAP lacks in its focus on individuality, it makes up for the integrative approach in knowledge-building. DEC's recommended practices on the other hand, continue to build on the foundation of quality and workable learning programs. References: National Association for the Education of Young Children (1997). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through 8: A position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children [Electronic version]. Retrieved September 18, 2007, from www.naeyc.org/about/positions/pdf/PSDAP98.PDF Mulligan, S. and Chandler, L. (no date). Recommended Practices for Children with Disabilities: A Comprehensive Approach for Inclusive Settings [Electronic version]. Retrieved September 18, 2007, from http://www.dec-sped.org/pdf/recommendedpractices/PDI%206%2010%2007.pdf Read More