BRONFENBRENNER’S

ECOLOGICAL THEORY
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Urie Brofenbrenner
1917-2005
Russian-born American
Psychologist
Holistic Perspective
One of the founders of
Head Start
Ecological Systems
Theory
 ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

Urie Bronfenbrenner develop the

ecological systems theory to explain how
everything in a child and the child’s
environment affects how a child grows and
develops.
 He labeled different aspects or levels of the
environment that influence children’s development,
including the:

• Microsystem
• Mesosystem
• Exosystem
• Macrosystem
• Chronosystem
• Figure 2.5. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of the environment as a series of nested structures.
The microsystem refers to relations between the child and the immediate environment, the
mesosystem to connections among the child’s immediate settings, the exosystem to social settings
that affect but do not contain the child, and the macrosystem to the overarching ideology of the
culture. BASED ON BRONFENBRENNER, 1979.
 THE MICROSYSTEM
Is the layer nearest to the child. It comprises structure which the child
directly interacts with. They are called immediate environment.

How these groups or organizations interact with the child will have an
effect on how the child grows; the more encouraging and nurturing
these relationships and placed are, the better the child will be able to
grow.

Microsystem: Immediate environments (family, school, peer group,

neighborhood, and childcare environments)
 THE MESOSYSTEM
describes how the different parts of a child’s
microsystem work together for the sake of
the child. They are called connections.

Example: Interactions between the parents

and teachers
The parents and health services
The community and the church
 THE EXOSYSTEM
The exosystem level includes the other
people and places that the child herself may
not interact with often herself but that still
have a large affect on her, such as parent’s
workplaces, extended family members, the
neighborhood etc.

Also called indirect environment

 THE MACROSYSTEM
Bronfenbrenner’s final level is the macrosystem,
which is the largest and most remote set of people
and things to a child but which still has a great
influence over a child.

They are called social and cultural values

Example: marriage ceremonies, outbreak of Mers-

cov or aids
 THE CHRONOSYSTEM
Big events in the world that help psychologist
understand the affect it will impact in a person’s
development through time.

They are called Changes Over Time

Example: A family through a divorse

A nation going war
 THE ROLES OF SCHOOLS
AND TEACHERS

WHAT IF…
- If there is lack of support, care and
affection from the home?
- If there is a serious breakdown of the
basic’s relationships in child’s life?
- What can the school, the teachers in
particular do?
 THE ROLES OF SCHOOLS
AND TEACHERS
Brofenbrenner’s theory helps teacher
look into a very child’s environmental
systems in order to understand more about
the characteristics and needs of each child,
each learner. The school and the teachers
can contribute stability an long term
relationships in the home.
THANK YOU!!!