Ecological Systems Theory How Children

Ecological Systems Theory

HOW CHILDREN DEVELOP

Urie Bronfenbrenner was a Russian who migrated to America with his parents when he was only 6 years old (Yorganop, 2013). He studied music and psychology and achieved prominence for his work in child development. His most important contribution to the field was the Ecological Systems Theory, which many consider revolutionary. He helped found the Head Start Program, which is among the longest-running and most successful programs devoted to improving educational outcomes especially for poor children. Sesame Street was one of the strategies of this Program (Yorganop).

Comparison with Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist who won prominence for his social theories on child development (Yingst, 2011; Warren, 2010). His theory had distinct differences from that of Bronfenbrenner on how children develop. Piaget proposed that children develop in conjunction with their physiological development. He postulated a Stage Theory or a four-stage of development. These stages are the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. He saw a child learning cognitive tasks, which progress and increase his relationship with the outside world. He also recognized the child's interaction with the environment but not as extensively as Bronfenbrenner saw it. On the other hand, Bronfenbrenner developed his systems theory in which a child or human being develops from his social interactions. He is highly influenced by his society and culture. Bronfenbrenner saw the child as progressing and developing through different social ecosystems (Yingst, Warren)

Piaget's Stage Theory of cognitive development explains how a child thinks about and understands the world (Yingst, 2011; Warren, 2010). At the same time, Piaget emphasizes the importance of age-appropriate learning. On the other hand, Brofenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory explains how social forces affect human or child development. This theory asserts influence on the social policy on the person, especially in the area of education (Yingst, Warren).

Bronfenbrenner's Systems Theory

This suggests that human development proceeds through five environmental systems with which he interacts (Yorganop, 2013; Derksen, 2010). These are a microsystem, a mesosystem, an exosystem, a macrosystem, and a chronosystem. A microsystem consists of the institutions and groups, which have the most immediate and direct impact on the child. These include his family, school, religious institutions, neighborhood, peers and his own biology. The inclusion of his biology led others to refer to this Theory as the Bio-Ecological Systems Theory. A mesosystem consists of relations between microsystems or links between contexts. Family experiences connect with school experiences then to church experiences and peer experiences. This can explain why children who are rejected by parents may not find it easy forming positive relations with teachers. An exosystem consists of links between a social setting in which the person does not actively participate and his immediate context. His home experience may be influenced by his mother or father's experience at work. Or his mother's promotion entails increased travel, which conflicts with that of the husband or the child and changes their pattern of interaction. A macrosystem embodies the culture of the person, which includes the socioeconomic status, poverty level and ethnicity. This evolves through time, during which every generation changes its own macrosystem and develops into a unique macrosystem. And a chronosystem is formed by the pattern of environmental events and transitions throughout the course of one's life, which includes socio-historical situations. One example of a transition is divorce. Divorce has been found to impart adverse effects on children in the first year. In two years, family interaction becomes less turbulent and more stable. On the other hand, an increase in career opportunities for women is an example of a socio-historical situation in the last decades (Yorganop, Derksen).

Each system consists of roles, norms and rules, which shape the psychological development of children or human beings (Derksen, 2010; Warren, 2010). The environmental hardships encountered by an inner family will be different from those of a sheltered, affluent family living in guarded villages or communities. Poor families confront the realities of poverty and crime while affluent families are plagued by a lack of supportive relationships. This Theory has since its publication in 1979 widely influenced the way that psychologists dealt with their study of persons and their environments. They began to see these environments as part of the life pattern from childhood to adulthood. Bronfenbrenner credited Soviet developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky and German-born psychologist Kurt Lewin for their influences on this theory. It contributed major elements to the ecological counseling perspectives of Robert K. Conyne, Ellen Cook, and the University of Cincinnati Counseling Program. In a nutshell, Bronfenbrenner's theory points to environmental factors as playing a major role in human or child development (Derksen, Warren).

The Impact of the Theory on Career Goals

It teaches that children grow and develop with a series of different relationship systems like circles forming from within and moving outward (NACCE, 2012; Yngist, 2011). It shows how a child is affected by each system and how he affects it. In turn, each system affects, and is affected by, other oncoming systems. These are linked and interlinked among themselves. Moreover, each system contains risks as well as opportunities for a child's development and the stronger and more positive the connections between systems, the better it is for the child (NACCE, Yngist).

According to the Theory, the mesosystem consists of relationships between different microsystems between family and child care and between child care and community (NACCE, 2012; Yngist, 2011). The child is entrenched at the center. The microsystem is the inner system closest to the child. It consists of the family, the local community, play groups, child care and schools. The exosystem consists of relationships that do not affect the child directly. These are relationships at his parents' workplaces as well as family policies. The macrosystem consists of society's beliefs and values affecting children. These are those, which see children as valuable and deserving of care, safety, love and growth (NACCE, Yngist).

Putting the Theory into Practice

The Theory helps form efforts to prepare educators for practice and within practice (Derksen, 2010; NACCE, 2010). It fosters more than just an understanding of children as part of a cycle of ecological system contexts. It gives particular attention to the ways reciprocal interactions between systems impact human or child development. Additionally, ecological theory points to the much smaller interactional and attachment formation processes, which take place between children or youth and child and youth care workers. It also leads to the discovery of the ways by which it influences the family work and research on child and youth care (NACCE, Derksen).

In putting the Theory to practice, educators and counselors can develop specific aims or tasks according to the nature of each ecosystem (NACCE, 2012). Mindful of the microsystem, they can extend support to families so that they can become strong and feel strong. Counselors or educators can also help connect families to services and resources, which can support them and the children adequately. Their services should value and support children not as future adults but as children right now whose being they support (NACCE).