Rethinking Developmentally Appropriate Practice Beyond Early Childhood: An Integrative Review of Its Implementation in Primary Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37630/bijee.v4i2.5146Keywords:
developmentally appropriate practice, primary education, guided play, integrative review, bibliometric analysisAbstract
Developmentally appropriate practice was formulated for children from birth through age eight, yet systematic evidence on its implementation remains dominated by early childhood settings. This study aimed to map the characteristics of research, strategies, outcomes, and challenges associated with implementing developmentally appropriate practice in primary education. An integrative review was conducted in two stages covering publications from 2016 to September 2026: bibliometric mapping of 667 Scopus records using VOSviewer, and content synthesis of studies identified through targeted searches of Scopus, ERIC, Google Scholar, and Garuda, complemented by citation searching. Fourteen eligible studies (nine empirical and five review or conceptual studies) were analysed through structured data extraction, quality appraisal with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, and thematic synthesis based on the three core considerations of developmentally appropriate practice. The findings show that research is concentrated in the United States and in the early grades, with guided play, child-centred instruction, and developmentally sensitive curriculum planning as the dominant strategies. Reported outcomes include learning engagement, language and literacy development, early mathematics skills, and task switching as a component of executive function. The main challenges are academic pressure and standardised testing, the limited capacity of novice teachers, and a predominantly technical understanding of the framework. The review concludes that developmentally appropriate practice is relevant to primary education when positioned as a philosophical praxis that balances commonality, individuality, and context. Future research should test its implementation empirically in primary schools in non-Western countries, including Indonesia, using longitudinal designs and validated observation instruments.
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