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Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory
Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory
The role of the environment in human development
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The ecological systems theory, developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner, suggests the importance of social and cultural influences on child development. Bronfenbrenner introduced this theory as layering of environmental systems surrounding a child, and explained the influence that each layer may have on child development. Four layers of this system are microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. The microsystem is the innermost layer and involves immediate relationships at home, school, and any other direct contact.
According to the Developmental Systems Theory by Virginia Satir, a persons entire family works together as one unit. This family unit can create either positive or negative traits amongst each other. Also, the actions of each single individual within this group affects all the remaining members of the family in a myriad of ways.
In the book A Child Called “It”, we could see many examples of each of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems, whether they were in the beginning or more towards the end of the book. This diagram helps to show how each system in Dave’s life builds on the other, and how they are all related. We could tell that when one of his systems fail, his life tends to get worse. If each of the systems would have worked correctly, then Dave would have been saved a lot sooner, and he would not have gone through such a horrible childhood.
Macrosystem. The macrosystem is the outer most shell of the model that shapes the exosystem. These broad forces include culture, values, structures, institutions that create the environment in which the exosystem operates.
Katelyn became teenage girl and I felt like time moved really quickly. She just finished with 7th grade and will go to high school in two years. This made me feel very happy and proud for Katelyn, but also made me felt somewhat sad. I feel like Katelyn will be on her own very soon, since she is independent. So I believe the time left for us to hang out like this is only 5 years: 8th grade and 4 years of high school. After all, I was amazed to see her healthy growing without any serious insures so far.
Children are products of their environment. There are several factors that determine the future outcome of the child. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model breaks down the components that effect the child. This model contains several layers; the inner most layer is called the microsystem, then comes the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the macrosystem. Each layer describes different factors that explain how and why the child behaves or grows up to be a certain way.
Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory “looks at children’s development within the context of the systems of relationships that form their environment.” (MORRISON, 2009) This theory describes multifaceted tiers within the environment, where each layer has a specific influence upon a child’s development.
You have taken a lead teacher position in a preschool program. A parent asks you to explain the program’s constructivist philosophy.
The Ecological-Systems Theory developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) in 1979, consists of five environmental systems and examines how individuals interact with them. This approach often provides insight into the development of children and their relation to their environment.
In Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory, there are five systems that ultimately influence an individual. The first system is the microsystem, which consists of the people who have direct contact to an individual. In my own life, my immediate family consists of my mother and I. I am an only child to my mother and since my mother and my father have been separated since I was a baby, he has not been part of my microsystem. In addition, I am also a student at CCP. I have a network of friends whom I keep in close contact with. The people that I encounter at home, school, and work have direct contact with me and thus, they are part of my microsystem.
Social ecological perspectives are often described as a web of relationships (k218, Learning guide 3, 3.1). They make us aware that each individual has many defining factors making up who they are. Social ecological perspectives have the child/young person at the centre and show how they are connected to the family, community and society as a whole. They demonstrate the layers that go into making the individual and show that everybody has a unique set of circumstances that affect the person they are, their achievements, social standing and even their health. Social ecological perspectives give us the opportunity to quantify these factors and offer a tool to collate the data, giving us the chance to see how factors such as employment, housing or demographic area can affect life chances in both the short and long term. Social economic perspectives tell us that to fully understand the individual we must also understand their environment and how they are connected to it. Rather than just looking at the child or young person on a standalone basis we must look at what factors affect their behaviour, where they are living, what the home or community environment is like and try to respond appropriately to this.
Urie Bronfenbrenner presented his theory of ecological systems in 1979. In his theory, Bronfenbrenner claims that there are four systems that work in concert with one another to effect the behavior of an individual (Lobb,
Human development issues have remained critical in understanding how and why people behave the way they do. Several human development theories exist to explain human development from birth through to death. Some of these have focused on the psychological aspects of human development while others on the cognitive aspect (Piaget, 1971; Lerner, 2001; Swick and Williams, 2006). Other human development theories have also focused on the social and environmental aspects (Bronfenbrenner & Bronfenbrenner, 2009; Swick, 2004). This current essay examines one of the major social theories relating to child development. The theory to be examined is the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of human development. The essay will further examine the applicability of the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory to my personal development, growing up as a child between the ages of 4 years and 12 years. In the first instance, the essay will focus on explaining the – Bronfenbrenner’s theory including the four types of systems described by the theory. Subsequently, the essay will examine how these systems apply to my life in relation to the social systems in which I grew in South Sudan in Africa. It will be seen that the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory
The Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory focuses on how ones environment can affect a person’s development. It focuses on 5 main areas namely the Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem and Chronosystem (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, p. 514-515). Each system represents the setting in which they live in and how these people affect their growth. In this particular case study, Andy’s main influence is from the Microsystem and Mesosystem.
I chose the reading about Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of human development. Summarily, this reading introduces the history of the ecological model, the idea of proximal processes, genetic inheritance, and the five components of the model. Bronfenbrenner’s (1993) ecological framework focuses on how a variety of environments affect an individual, and this model was first introduced in the 1970s. (p. 37) According to Bronfenbrenner (1993), proximal processes are the interaction between the individual and “the persons, objects, and symbols in its immediate environment” (p. 38).
According to this approach, “even if one is studying a single source of influence, one would acknowledge at some critical point that that source is not acting in isolation” (Coll 2004). To elaborate, the environment cannot be the sole factor in development because there are other things influencing an individual’s development — like their biology. For the sociocultural theory of development to definitively state that interactions with an individual’s surroundings result in their development, it would have to erase any biological involvement in development. Meaning, the theory would have to completely neglect biology’s role in development which is impossible because without a genetic makeup, a person is not a person. Furthermore, Coll illustrates this approach by giving an example of a child learning language (2004). For instance, “a child cannot learn a language well without a neural substrate that processes the input—or, equally important, without an environment that provides that input” (Coll 2004). This promotes the belief that development is the product of the environment and biology reacting with one