Bronfenbrenner 's Ecological Systems Theory And Its Impact On Early Childhood Development

Bronfenbrenner: Bronfenbrenner developed the ecological system theory to explain how everything in a child and the child’s environment affects how a child grows and develops (Oswalt, A. 2008). As grandparents we are making sure our grandchildren is being raised with the same models as we raised our children

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model deemed a child’s growth and development as influenced by everything in their surrounding environment and vice versa. He referred to the various levels of the person's environment as the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem which are a set of structures where one layer is contained inside the next and so forth.

The Ecological Systems Theory was founded by Urie Bronfenbrenner. This theory focuses on the impact of the environment on a child’s overall development. The identifying characteristics of Bronfenbrenner’s theory are the five systems used to organize external influences within a child’s development. These systems are the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. Each system is aligned with specific interaction levels. The microsystem is considered to be the most intimate of the levels, in which development is dependent on the immediate environment. The immediate environment would include adults, peers, and siblings with influence to learning new behaviors and the environment in which the

Urie Bronfenbrenner was one of the founders of Head Start and adapted the Ecological Theory. The theory describes how social and cultural contexts influence a child 's development. Those contexts would include social, political, legal, and economic systems (p. 131). According to Bronfenbrenner, he believed each system influenced eachother as well as the growth of the child. He also believes in the importance of family, peers, community, culture, society, and the time period (p. 131). The theory relates to the Head Start program because it discusses how society

The ecological system theory developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner views the child development as being in a system of connections affected by many levels of the surrounding environment (Berk,2006). This approach discussed by Berk (2006) starts with the inner most layer of this system being the microsystem. This system is made up of all the settings that personally interact and influence the child. Explained from Laser and Nicotera 2011) the immediate influences from the microsystem for an infant starts with the home and the interactions the child has with their parents or caregiver. This level in the system helps the child form social relationships that later in their life will take part in activities outside of the home. This type of involvement builds on the child’s physical skills (playing at the park, or out on recess) and cognitive abilities (involvement with preschool, schools and daycare). For Walter, many of

As a preschool director, a newly licensed teacher, and community volunteer, with many years of experience working with children, I am very much involved with their social, emotional and behavior development. Currently, I am enrolled in a human development course at Capella University and have learned a great deal about my students’ developmental differences. Studying the various developmental theories with Bronfenbrenner Ecological System of Development being my favorite, has allowed me to observe and apply the various theories to the developmental stages of my students.

Similarly Bronfenbrenner recognised the importance of primary carers to children, his ecological system proposes that children are affected by many social factors and those closest to the child have the greatest impact. In the ecological system the parents and family are represented by the micro system, they are closest to the child and have the most influence them and their learning potential. (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Therefore it is essential that the early year’s educator has a positive relationship with the parent for consistent and effective learning at home and in the setting. As well as recognising that parents have influence on their children the ecological system shows the environmental factors that have impact on the child and family; Bronfenbrenner defines the next layer of the ecological system, the mesosystem, as “the relationship between factors within the microsystem” (Kay, 2008:269) this means that the relationship the parents and educators within the child’s setting has an influence on the child; affirming just how crucial it is for practitioners to be in partnership with parents.

One successful means of compromise was offered by Urie Bronfenbrenner in 1979, when he introduced the "Ecological Model" of child development. His model, which looks like a bulls-eye, has the child and his or her individual characteristics at its center. The first "ring" around the child is the microsystem, consisting of the child's immediate surroundings. The next "ring" is the mesosystem, a series of connection between elements of the microsystem. The third "ring" is the exosystem, containing the people and institutions that affect the child indirectly. The final "ring" is the macrosystem, composed of the attitudes and ideologies of society as a whole. In the model all of the layers surrounding the child interact both with each other and with the child. Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of child development can serve as an effective framework for understanding the impact of health care, homelessness, and violence on children living in poverty, and it can guide for our attempts to improve conditions for children and youth in America.

Early childhood is one of the most critical developmental periods in a human’s lifespan. The child transitions from infancy and begins the essential changes needed before the next developmental period begins, middle childhood which begins at six years of age. Development refers to “the orderly patterns of change, as well as continuities that occur in an individual through their life span” (text, p3). Human development is determined by both genes and environmental influences or nature and nurture. Nature refers to heredity which is the passing of traits from parents to their children and maturation which is the changes biologically programmed by genes (text, p7). Nurture refers to the changes that occur due to the individual’s environment

Sabrina is a seven-year old girl. She is in Primary Two this year. Both her parents are teachers in a primary school and she has a younger sister who is two years younger than her. Sabrina’s maternal grandparents lived with her. Her grandfather passed away two years ago. Then her grandmother passed away later that same year. Sabrina was very close to her grandmother and her death affected her badly. She would still ask for her grandmother when she was in Primary One and was not able to accept her death. Sabrina was referred to the school counselor late in 2013 as her parents had to be persuaded to give their consent. The counselor started having sessions with her this year.

The Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems is a model created by psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner that refers to five structures of which an individual interacts with that impacts their development. The structures are referred to as systems in the model and there are five systems: Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem, Chronosystem.

After reading chapter 6 of the textbook, I have realized that children early years are severely important because they provide the foundation for the rest of their life, as adolescent, and as adult. Children that are well nurtured can live well and be sociable. Early childhood is the most rapid period of development in a human life. A child creates their own sense of identity. Indeed, it is important for a child to have a sense of identity. Although individual children develop at their pace, all children progress through an identifiable sequence of physical, cognitive, and emotional growth and change. The early child development approach is based on that children respond best when caregivers use specific techniques designed to encourage and stimulate progress to the next level of development. Early childhood is the time during which essential, intellectual, and emotional abilities form. Keeping young children safe and nurturing them is protective against lifelong problems. Including the risk of becoming involved in violence. Early experiences affect the brain development, shaping the brains physical growth and sculpting neural connections. This occurs primarily between birth and school age years. Besides, the family, community and society are powerful in shaping young children’s development. They grow at a very rapid rate during the first one and a half years of life. Their development is not only physical, it is also mental, emotionally, and social. These developments are

Furthermore, I prefer to consider Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (as cited in Santrock, 2007) in order to gain an understanding of an individual’s

Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1989, 1993, 1994) ecological theory suggested that child (human) development occurs for the child within the context of various environments. These environments, or systems, are influenced from within and between other environments. The individuals within each system influence each other through various transactions that occur between them.

The next level in the system is the mesosystem showing the impact of the interaction of the different structures in the microsystem in the development of the child (Belgrave & Allison 239). The essence of the mesosytem is providing a connection between the microsystem players such as the teacher and the parents, of the church and neighborhood, thus making the impact more profound. Oswalt gives an example of a parent or caregiver taking an active role in a child’s school interactions such as attending matches and parent-teacher conferences thus ensuring overall growth. An involved parent within this example is likely to have a positive impact, while disagreeing parents and caregivers may give conflicting lessons hindering holistic growth. The third stage of Bronfenbrenner model is the exosystem level, which encompasses other people and places that have an impact on the child’s growth despite the child not having a direct interaction with these people or places. The exosytem level contains the larger society such as parent workplaces, community-based resources, which may negatively or positively influence on the child although they do not have a direct interaction with the places. For example, the workplace affects the child’s growth by ensuring providence, meaning that if a parent is laid off the child