Bio-Ecological

Perspective
MODULE 2:
UNDERSTANDING THE
SELF
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological
System Theory

American psychologist - Urie

Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005)
formulated the Ecological Systems
Theory
His theory focuses on the quality and
context of the child's environment

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The model suggests the
interactions between the
individual and their
environment, categorized
into various systems, shape
their development over
time.
organizes contexts of
development into five
levels of external influence.
 levels are categorized
from the most intimate
level to the broadest
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Individual
• Age
• Sex
• Special Needs
Microsystem Friends and family members Teacher and classmates
the smallest and most immediate
environment in which children live.
Interactions within the microsystem
typically involve personal
relationships with family members,
classmates, teachers and caregivers.
How these groups or individuals
interact with the children will affect
how they grow.

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Microsystem…
For Children For Adults
• Who do they live with or interact
with, and what is their relationship • Job
with those people?
• Class
• Do they have supportive teachers?
• Is the parent feeling stressed out by • Place where they live
money?
• Are the parents fighting?
• Is the child being bullied?
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Consider this…

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Ponder on this…
•Given two siblings Each child’s particular
experiencing the same personality traits, such as
microsystem, is it possible temperament, which is
for the development of influenced by unique genetic
and biological factors,
them to progress in
ultimately have a hand in
different manners?
how he/she is treated by
others.
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 Mesosystem
example: Parent-teacher
• The mesosystem encompasses the interaction of the
conference at school
different microsystems which children find themselves in.
• It is, in essence, a system of microsystems and as such,
involves linkages between home and school, between
peer group and family, and between family and
community.

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Mesosystem…
For a Child
• Do the parents get-along with the teacher?
• Do they trust the teacher?
• Do they feel comfortable going to the teacher if
there is a problem?
• Or it might be relationships between where the
kid lives and their family.
• If they live in an unsafe area, how does this
maybe affect the rules that their parents are
setting for them?
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Ponder on this…

•In a hypothetical situation, how does the

relationship between your family/friends and
your special someone might affect your
relationship with him/her? Why?

• Use the chat box to answer

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Exosystem example: Father at his job, death of a family friend
The exosystem pertains to
the linkages that may exist
between two or more
settings, one of which may
not contain the developing
children but affect them
indirectly, nonetheless.
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Exosystem
•Based on the findings of
Bronfenbrenner, people and places
that children may not directly
interact with may still have an
impact on their lives.
•Such places and people may
include the parents’ workplaces,
extended family members, and the
neighborhood the children live in

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 Exosystem…
• So for parents, maybe it’s the relationship between the
parent’s job and the kid’s school.
• If the parents have really fluctuating work hours, or must
work very long hours, the child is not directly involved in
the parent’s workplace, but this will affect things like
whether the parents are able to volunteer in the kid’s school.
• The Tarlac State University Board of Regents would be an
example of an exosystem for you, because you have
probably (most of you) never met the trustees, but they do
affect your immediate environment because they affect
things like your tuition and fees, who we’re going to hire,
College policies, and things like that.
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Quick Question

•What certain events/situations of your

friends that could affect you? In what way?

Use the chat box to answer

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Macrosystem example: customs, beliefs, religion differs, law free
tuition

•The macrosystem is the largest and

most distant collection of people
and places to the children that still
have significant influences on them.
•This ecological system is composed
of the children’s cultural patterns
and values, specifically their
dominant beliefs and ideas, as well
as political and economic systems.

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Macrosystem
• So this can be Filipino culture, but of course that’s not one
monolithic culture.
• So we can also talk about the culture of a religious group,
or military culture, or the culture of very urban vs. rural
areas.
• We can also look at broad social contexts, such as the
country’s political climate.
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Ponder on this….

• Cite examples as to how

the following affects
your development:
• Culture
• Laws
• Social Status
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Chronosystem example: birth of a sibling, relocation
• The chronosystem is made up of
the environmental events and
transitions that occur throughout a
child's life,
• including any sociohistorical
events such as change in family
structure, address, parents’
employment status, as well as
immense society changes such as
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Chronosystem
• For example, a child who frequently
bullies smaller children at school may
portray the role of a terrified victim at
home.
• Due to these variations, adults who are
concerned with the care of a particular
child should pay close attention to his/her
behavior in different settings, as well as
to the quality and type of connections
that exist between these settings.
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 Chronosystem
• Part of this relates to when events occur in a person’s life.
• For example, we can talk about how people are typically
affected by becoming parents, but the effects are very
different if someone becomes a parent for the first time at
age 16 or 26 or 36.
• The other element of the chronosystem is the larger
historical context.
• So, for example, somebody who is in their 40s today might
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
have different views about money, and different spending
habits, compared to what today’s 20-year-olds will do when

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Quick Question
•Based from the story of your parents, what are the
things that they did when they were your age and
the things you no longer do nowadays? What might
affect the difference between your behaviors?

Use the chat box to answer

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 One behavior, many Context
What will a student major in? Will he/she succeed in his/her chosen course?
• Self: Intelligence, learning disabilities, motivation
• Microsystem: What does your parents wants you to take? Can they support you
financially in the course that you want?
• Mesosystem: Perhaps your parents have friends who in the school and recommends
certain programs; course your friends want
• Exosystem: Parents want you to take a course suggested by their friends
• Macrosystem: Cultural norms and values regarding the importance of education, and
which majors are appropriate for men; State regulators set tuition and fees: politician
can raise or lower the education budget
• Chronosystem: Would your choice of course be affected by the newIntegrity.
normal/pandemic?
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 Assignment
Identify the factors in the different system that will contribute in the success of your studies?
• Microsystem:
______________________________________________________________________
• Mesosystem:
______________________________________________________________________
• Exosystem:
_______________________________________________________________________
• Macrosystem:____________________________________________________________________
__
• Chronosystem:
_____________________________________________________________________
EVERY CHILD NEEDS AT LEAST ONE
ADULT
WHO IS IRRATIONALLY CRAZY
ABOUT HIM OR HER!
- Urie Bronfenbenner-