Developmentally Appropriate Artificial Intelligence Practice (DAAIP): A Framework for Generative Al in Early Childhood Education

Uygun E., Genç L. G.

XXI. International Congress of Research in Education, Amasya, Türkiye, 10 Haziran 2026, ss.27, (Özet Bildiri)

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Amasya
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.27
  • Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This presentation introdluces the Developmentally Appropriate Artificial Intelligence Practice (DAAIP) framework as a conceptual response to the increasing presence of generative artificial intelligence in early childhooc education. While current Al-in-education discussions often focus on older learners, early childhood settings require a more developmentally, relationally, culturally and ethically sensitive framework. Building on developmentally appropriate practice, sociocultural theory, guided play, ethics of care, children's rights, translanguaging, and decolonial Al perspectives, the presentation argues that Al integration in birth-to-eight education should be evaluated through three interconnected dimensions: age appropriateness, individual appropriateness, and cultural-and-contextual appropriateness. Within this structure, DAAIP proposes seven guiding principles: age-graded thresholds for Al use, protection of embodied and peer-involving play, Al as a support rather than a substitute for adult scaffolding, the primacy of the child-educator-Al triad, linguistic and cultural fidelity, educator epistemic authority, and transparency to families. The presentation further illustrates how these principles can guide decision-making in practical scenarios, including conversational Al use with toddlers, AI-generated multilingual materials in low-resource contexts, and Al-assisted observation of emergent bilingual neurodivergent children. Rather than rejecting Al in early childhood education, DAAIP positions appropriateness as a matter of careful pediagogical calibration. The presentation concludes by discussing implications for teacher education, institutional policy, procurement, family engagement, and future empirical research on Al-mediated early learning.