Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory

Presented by:
Xylonah Jean Cacho
Sharmaine Venturillo
Who is Urie
Bronfenbrenner?

• (April 29, 1917 – September 25, 2005)

Russian-born American psychologist.

• Studied music and psychology at Cornell

University, where he received a
bachelor’s degree in 1938.
 Urie Bronfenbrenner
• He also earned a master’s degree in education at Harvard
University.

• In 1942, he graduated with a Ph.D. in developmental

psychology from the University of Michigan.

• Best known for having developed human ecology theory

(ecological systems theory).
 • It presents child development within the
context of relationship systems that
comprise the child's environment.
Bioecological • It describes multipart layers of
Systems environment that has an effect on the
development of the child.
Theory
• The term “bioecological” points out that
a child's own biological make-up impacts
as a key factor in one's development.
The Bronfenbrenner's
Ecological Model
 Microsystem
• It is the smallest and most immediate environment in which
children live.

• The microsystem comprises the daily home, school or daycare,

peer group and community environment of the children.

• One of the most significant findings that Urie Bronfenbrenner

unearthed in his study of ecological systems is that it is possible
for siblings who find themselves in the same ecological system
to experience very different environments.
 Mesosystem
• The mesosystem encompasses the interaction of the different
microsystems which children find themselves in.

• A system of microsystems which involves linkages between

home and school, between peer group and family, and
between family and community.

• For example, if the child’s parents dislike their child’s peers and
openly criticize them, then the child experiences disequilibrium
and conflicting emotions, which will likely lead to negative
development.
 Exosystem
• 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.
• Based on the findings of Bronfenbrenner, people and places that
children may not directly interact with may still have an impact on
their lives.

• Places and people may include the parents’ workplaces, extended

family members, and the neighborhood the children live in.
 Macrosystem
• 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.

• For example, children in war-torn areas will experience a different

kind of development than children in peaceful environments.
 Chronosystem
• Chronosystem adds the useful dimension of time, which
demonstrates the influence of both change and constancy in
the children’s environments.

• It may include a change in family structure, address, parents’

employment status, as well as immense society changes
such as economic cycles and wars.
 Chronosystem
• For example, a child who frequently bullies smaller
children at school may portray the role of a terrified
victim at home.

• By studying the various ecological systems,

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory is able to
demonstrate the diversity of interrelated influences on
children’s development.
 The role of teachers and schools
• Bronfenbrenner concluded that the “instability and
unpredictability of family life is the most destructive force to a
child’s development.”

• This theory helps teachers look into every child's

environmental systems in order to understand more about the
characteristics and needs of each child, each learner.

• The schools and the teachers can contribute stability and long-
term relationships, but only to support and not replace the
relationships in the home.
 References

• Child and Adolescent Development Book

• https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/bronfenbrenner-ecologic
al-theory/
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Urie-Bronfenbrenner