Reponding to Those Who Say DAP Does Not Work

One of the best articles out there to assist with replies to those who say DAP does not work in real life is found in the NAEYC publication Young Children the July 2005 edition "Yeah Buts That Keep Teachers from Embracing Active Curriculum:Overcomeing Resistance." Written by Eugen Geist and Angela Baum from Ohio State University. You can get a copy of this article at http://www.naeyc.org/. Click on Publications, Past Publications and July 2005.

It addresses seven of the many excuses used by teachers to explain why they do not utilize developmentally appropriate techniques in their classrooms. For example: Yeah, I think a developmentally appropriate curriculum is best, But the teacher at the next level is not going to teach that way, and I don't want to confuse the child. It seems to me that even if that statement is true it would be a reason why you would want to be developmentally appropriate to better prepare that child to learn more independently so that when teachers are inappropriate later on the child can deal with the ineffective teaching approaches better. The article states that "Positive classroom experience can never be negative." and "Children are not confused with different teaching styles. The high-quality, positive experiences that you give a child in your classroom has a lasting effect."

Print the article, read it over regularly and have a response on the tip of your tongue when you hear the Yeah Buts. I would like to know what you think about the article.