Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological

Systems Theory
Question!

 How does the world around the child

help or hinder development?
Ecological Systems Theory
Development is the result
of the relationships between
people and their
environments.
Implications
 Cannot evaluate a child’s development only in
the immediate environment.
 Must also examine the interactions among
the larger environments that a child develops
in.
The FOUR layers
 Microsystem: Relationships with direct contact to
the child
 Mesosystem: Connection between relationships of
child’s microsystem
 Exosystem: Structures in which child the child does
not have direct contact
 Macrosystem: Cultural context
Based on Bronfenbrenner, U. 1979. The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press.
Microsystem
Variables that the child is directly exposed to
 Relationships: Family, school, religious
institution, neighbors
 Family: Most influential and durable influence on
child
 Environment: Geographic, Material structures
 Child’s body
 General health
 Brain functioning – physiological and psychological
 Emotions
 Cognitive System
 Most of the child’s behavior is learned in the
microsystem
 The microsystem consists of bi-directional
influences
 Parents actively shape the development of the child
 Children actively shape their environment
 Personal attributes influence responses from other
people
 Children actively select and avoid specific environments
 Bi-directional relationships are the foundation for a
child’s cognitive and emotional growth
Mesosystem
Interconnections between the microsystems
 Interactions between the family and teachers
 Relationship between the child’s peers and the
family
Exosystem
Institutions of society that indirectly affect a child’s
development
 Parent’s workplace
 Funding for education
 These impact a child’s development by influencing
structures in the microsystem
Macrosystem
 Cultural context
 Provides the values, beliefs, customs, and laws of the
culture in which a child grows up
 Influences how parents, teachers, and others raise a
child
 May be conscious or unconscious
 Influences the societal values, legislation, and financial
resources provided by a society to help families
function
 Influences the interactions of all other layers
Properties of the four layers
 Each layer has an effect on a child’s development
 Each layer is complex
 Conflict within any layer ripples throughout other
layers
Critique
 Strengths
 Integrates multiple influences on child development
 Weaknesses
 Does not provide detailed mechanisms for
development
Implications for Education
 Primary relationship must be intended to
last a lifetime
 Teachers need to work to support the primary
child-adult relationship
 Schools should create an environment that
welcomes and nurtures families
 Education should foster societal attitudes that
value all work done on behalf of children