Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

Session 6
Addressing Neurodevelopmental Learning Needs 1 B
Urie Bronfenbrenner
• Born in Russia
• Immigrated to the US at age 6
• Enlisted in the US army immediately after
completing his PhD
• Co-founder of the Head Start program
• Designed to serve at-risk nursery students to prepare
them for school
 Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV4E05
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Ecological Systems Theory
• Development is the result of the relationships between people
and their environments
• 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
• Key Question: How does the world around the child help or
hinder development?
• Four layers of relationships that influence a child’s development -
• 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
 Microsystem
• 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
 Microsystem
• 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
Microsystem
• 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
• Mesosystem: Interconnections between the
microsystems
• Examples
• Interactions between the family and teachers
• Relationship between the child’s peers and the family
Exosystem
• Exosystem: Institutions of society that indirectly
affect a child’s development
• Examples
• Parent’s workplace
• Funding for education
• Impacts a child’s development by influencing
structures in the microsystem
Macrosystem
• 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
Ecological Systems Theory
• Properties of the four layers of relationships
• Each layer of the environment is complex
• Each layer has an effect on a child’s development
• Conflict within any layer ripples throughout other layers
• As a child develops, interaction within
environments becomes more complex
• Complexity is the result of the maturation of a child’s
physical and cognitive structures
Ecological Systems Theory
• Five propositions that describe how home and
school relationships work together for positive
development
1. Child must have an ongoing, long-term mutual
interaction with an adult characterized by
unconditional love and support
2. The child-adult relationship provides the pattern of
interpersonal relationships with all of the child’s
other relationships. The confidence from this
relationship allows a child to explore and grow from
other activities.
Ecological Systems Theory
• Five propositions, continued.
3. Interactions with other adults enables the child to
develop a more positive relationship in the primary
child-adult relationship.
4. The primary child-adult relationship improves with
repeated two-way interchanges and mutual
compromise.
5. Relationships between child and adults require the
society to support the importance of these roles.
• Public policies must provide time and resources for child-
adult relationships to be nurtured.
Ecological Systems Theory
• Instability and unpredictability in modern family life
is the most destructive force in child’s development
• Because of demands within the workplace, children do
not have constant mutual interactions with important
adults that are necessary for development
• If relationships in the microsystem break down, the child
will not have tools to explore other parts of the
environment
• Children without a strong primary relationship will find
affirmation in inappropriate places, particularly in the
adolescence years
Ecological Systems Theory
• Technology has changed society
• Society does not provide resources to protect children
and adults from the potential negative outcomes of
technology
 The best interest of society is to lobby for political and
economic policies that support the importance of a
parent’s role in their child’s development
 Comparing Developmental
Theories
Active/Passive Nature/Nurture Stage/Continuous

Piaget Active Both Stage

Information Processing Active Both Both

Sociocultural Active Both Continuous

Neo-Piagetians Active Both Stage

Social Learning Both Nurture Continuous

Psychosocial Passive Both Stage

Attachment Passive Nurture Stage

Ecological Systems Both Both Continuous

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
• More research is needed to examine interactions
between different levels of relationships in a child’s
development
• Bronfenbrenner states that there is little conflict between
families and the school.
Revision
• Describe the four layers of relationships that
influences a child’s development
• According to ecological systems theory, what can
educators do to facilitate a child’s development?