Perception of Anganwadi Workers (AWW) on Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) at Early Childhood Care and Education Centres

Abstract

Hundred Anganwadi Workers (AWW) from the twin city of Odisha, India participated in the current study to discover their perception of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) as a part of Early Childhood Care and Education through Anganwadis. As Developmentally Appropriate Practice needs a deep understanding of each child and the child’s context of living, this study found out the perception of teachers or Anganwadi Workers by using the Teachers’ Perception Questionnaire. The data includes the perception level which was categorized under the AWWs’ understanding and maintenance of the Physical environment of learning, providing Developmentally  Appropriate play and learning materials to learners, transactional Activities done by the AWWs and assessing child’s development and learning, their initiatives to involve parents and families of children and establishing reciprocal relationship with them and finally how well they have self-awareness about their actions and self-evaluation. The collected data were thematically analyzed and the result showed that the AWWs were very much aware of their actions and understanding of the world around them. Most understood Developmentally Appropriate Practices and how it can be best implemented in the Early Childhood Care and Education Centres.