Social Contexts and Socioemotional Development
In this chapter, we will discuss:
• Contemporary Theories of a child’s Social Development: Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory and Erikson’s Life-Span Development Theory;
• Social Contexts of Development: families, peers, schools;
• Socioemotional Development: the self, moral development, coping with stress.
As an educator, years of teaching will make us think exactly how many children have we handled? Hundreds? Thousands? Ten thousand?
All children have different personalities, as no two people are alike at the same time. If you have 45 pupils in the class that would mean, you have 45 different persons in class. Why Anna would hit every child that will seat next to her; Jude who would ask you what time it is as he always wants to go home; Why JM sleeps most of the 5 ½ hours that he spent in school; Nathan who would want recess to be the first subject; why Princess would not speak in class even though it has been already 8th month of the school calendar.
Let this chapter make you understand how each child differs. Bronfenbrenner and Erikson’s theories will make us comprehend the children, our pupils even more.
As discussed in the book, a lot of theories have addressed childrens socioemotional development. Bronfenbrenner argues that in order to understand human development, one must consider the entire ecological system in which growth occurs (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). This system is composed of five socially organized subsystems that help support and guide human growth. These are as follows:
• Microsystem-refers to the relationship between a developing person and the immediate environment (school, family);
• Mesosystem- involves linkages between microsystems
• Exosystem- is at work when experiences in another setting influence what students and teachers experience in the immediate context.
• Macrosystem-