246441107 Ecological Systems Theory
What Is Ecological Systems Theory?
How is a child's development affected by their social relationships and the world around them? Ecological systems theory provides one approach to answering this question. The ecological systems theory was developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner.
Bronfenbrenner believed that a person's development was affected by everything in their surrounding environment. He divided the person's environment into five different levels: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem. In this lesson, you will learn about these different environmental levels by meeting five-year-old Alex and examining the influences in his life.
Microsystem
We will begin with the first level of Bronfenbrenner's theory: the microsystem. The microsystem is the system closest to the person and the one in which they have direct contact. Some examples would be home, school, daycare, or work. A microsystem typically includes family, peers, or caregivers. Relationships in a microsystem are bi-directional. In other words, your reactions to the people in your microsystem will affect how they treat you in return. This is the most influential level of the ecological systems theory.
Let's look at the microsystem Alex lives in. The first part of his microsystem is his home environment. This includes his interactions with his parents and little sister. Alex's school is also part of his microsystem. His regular school interactions are with his kindergarten teacher and the other children in his class.
Mesosystem
The next level of ecological systems theory is the mesosystem. The mesosystem consists of the interactions between the different parts of a person's microsystem. The mesosystem is where a person's individual microsystems do not function independently, but are interconnected and assert influence upon one another. These interactions have an indirect impact on the individual.
One aspect of Alex's mesosystem would be the relationship between his
How is a child's development affected by their social relationships and the world around them? Ecological systems theory provides one approach to answering this question. The ecological systems theory was developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner.
Bronfenbrenner believed that a person's development was affected by everything in their surrounding environment. He divided the person's environment into five different levels: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem. In this lesson, you will learn about these different environmental levels by meeting five-year-old Alex and examining the influences in his life.
Microsystem
We will begin with the first level of Bronfenbrenner's theory: the microsystem. The microsystem is the system closest to the person and the one in which they have direct contact. Some examples would be home, school, daycare, or work. A microsystem typically includes family, peers, or caregivers. Relationships in a microsystem are bi-directional. In other words, your reactions to the people in your microsystem will affect how they treat you in return. This is the most influential level of the ecological systems theory.
Let's look at the microsystem Alex lives in. The first part of his microsystem is his home environment. This includes his interactions with his parents and little sister. Alex's school is also part of his microsystem. His regular school interactions are with his kindergarten teacher and the other children in his class.
Mesosystem
The next level of ecological systems theory is the mesosystem. The mesosystem consists of the interactions between the different parts of a person's microsystem. The mesosystem is where a person's individual microsystems do not function independently, but are interconnected and assert influence upon one another. These interactions have an indirect impact on the individual.
One aspect of Alex's mesosystem would be the relationship between his