GESELL’S

DEVELOPMENTAL
MILESTONES
&
BROFENBRENNER’S
ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
THEORY
PRESENTED BY:

BEN CAPILI
BLOCK F
 GESELL’S
DEVELOPMENTAL
MILESTONES
 ARNOLD GESELL (1880-1961)
• AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST & PEDIATRICIAN FROM WISCONSIN
• ACKNOWLEDGED AS ‘FATHER OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT’
• INTEREST IN DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY STEMMED FROM
WATCHING HIS ‘ADINGS’ GROW UP
• USED MOVIE CAMERA AS AN INDESPENSIBLE TOOL TO
INVESTIGATE AND STUDY HIS RESEARCHES REGARDING CHILD
DEVELOPMENT. ALSO USED ONE-WAY MIRRORS
• CREATED A MAP FOR CHILD LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
• STATED THAT UNDERSTANDING NORMAL CHILD
DEVELOPMENT HELPS UNDERSTAND CHILDHOOD
ABNORMALITY
• EARLY STAGE THEORIST/ HEREDITY
 MILESTONES
AS A UNIT OF MEASURE, THE MILE DATES BACK TO ROMAN TIMES. THE LATIN IS
“MILIA PASSUUM,” MEANING A THOUSAND PACES. THE ROMANS ALSO ERECTED
STONE MARKERS AT MILE INTERVALS TO NOTIFY THE PASSERBY OF DISTANCES
COVERED OR THE NUMBER OF MILES TO GO TO REACH THEIR DESTINATION. THESE
MARKERS WERE CONVENIENTLY CALLED MILESTONES
 KEY PRINCIPLES
• CHILDREN DEVELOP THROUGH SIMILAR AND PREDICTABLE SEQUENCES. HOWEVER,
GESELL NOTICED THAT THEY DID SO AT THEIR OWN PACE, AND SUGGESTED THIS
DEVELOPMENT STARTS TO OCCUR BEFORE THE CHILD’S BIRTH.
• THE PACE THAT THE INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPS THROUGH THE SEQUENCES IS INFLUENCED
BY INTERNAL FACTORS, SUCH AS PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DEVELOPMENT
AND GENETICS.
• HE DISAGREED WITH THEORISTS WHO SUGGESTED THAT DEVELOPMENT WAS SOLELY
DOWN TO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS.
 KEY PRINCIPLES
• IF A CHILD EXPERIENCED DELAYED DEVELOPMENT THAT, ACCORDING TO
GESELL, WOULD BE DUE TO HEREDITY.
• READINESS- A CHILD SHOULD ONLY BE TAUGHT TO COMPLETE TASKS WHEN
THEY ARE PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY READY TO DO SO. TEACHING A CHILD TO
DO SOMETHING THAT IS IN ADVANCE OF THEIR DEVELOPMENTAL AGE WOULD
DO THEM MORE HARM.
GESELL’S THEORY
 GRADIENTS OF DEVELOPMENT
MOTOR CHARACTERISTICS - BODILY ACTIVITY, EYES, AND HANDS
PERSONAL HYGIENE - EATING, SLEEPING, BATHING AND
DRESSING
EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION - ATTITUDES, CRYING, ANGER
FEARS AND DREAMS - DISCERNING / RECALLING
SELF AND SEX - IDENTITY
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS - MOTHER-CHILD, CHILD-CHILD, AND
GROUPS
PLAY AND PASTIMES - INTERESTS, READING, MUSIC, MOVIES
SCHOOL LIFE - ADJUSTMENT TO SCHOOL LIFE
ETHICAL SENSE -  RESPONSE TO DIRECTION, PUNISHMENT,
PRAISE
 CRITICISMS OF GESELL’S THEORY
• PSYCHOLOGISTS, SUCH AS JEAN PIAGET, ARGUE THAT THE CHILD IS
INFLUENCED MORE BY THE ENVIRONMENT THEY LIVE IN.
• MORE RECENT RESEARCH HAS SUGGESTED THAT GESELL’S MILESTONES ARE
INCORRECT. WE NOW KNOW THAT BABIES CAN FOLLOW MOVING OBJECTS AT AN
EARLIER AGE THAN GESELL THOUGHT.
• GESELL ONLY USED WHITE, MIDDLE CLASS PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN IN
HIS SAMPLE.
 GESELL’S CONTRIBUTION TO EDUCATION
• MANY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS ARE PRESENTLY BASING THEIR ENTRY TO SCHOOL
ON GESELL’S BEHAVIOR NORMS AND MATURATIONAL THEORY.
• GESELL’S MOST NOTED WORK CENTERED UPON ESTABLISHING “NORMS” FOR
TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN, USED TO EDUCATE PARENTS AND
CAREGIVERS OF YOUNG CHILDREN AND HELP THEM BECOME MORE AWARE OF
TYPICAL BEHAVIORS IN CHILDREN.
• HIS WORK ALSO GUIDED THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUPPORTIVE PROGRAMS FOR
YOUNG CHILDREN.
BROFENBRENNER’S
ECOLOGICAL
SYSTEMS THEORY
 ECOLOGY
OEKOLOGIE MEANS “RELATION OF THE ANIMAL BOTH TO ITS ORGANIC AS
WELL AS ITS INORGANIC ENVIRONMENT.”

THE WORD COMES FROM THE GREEK OIKOS, MEANING “HOUSEHOLD,” “HOME,”

OR “PLACE TO LIVE.” THUS, ECOLOGY DEALS WITH THE ORGANISM AND ITS
ENVIRONMENT.
URIE BROFENBRENNER (1917-2005)
• RUSSIAN-BORN AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST
• SON OF A NEUROPATHOLOGIST
• DEVELOPED HUMAN ECOLOGY THEORY
• WAS A MILITARY PSYCHOLOGIST DURING WW2 AND
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT UNIVERSITY OF
MICHIGAN
• WORKED WITH US GOVERNMENT TO FORM HEAD
START PROGRAM IN 1965
 MICROSYSTEM
• CHILDREN ARE BORN INTO A THAT INFLUENCES THE CHILD’S EXPERIENCES
DIRECTLY.
• PARENTS, SIBLINGS, TEACHERS AND SCHOOL PEERS.
• RELATIONSHIPS IN A MICROSYSTEM ARE BI-DIRECTIONAL, MEANING THE
CHILD CAN BE INFLUENCED BY OTHER PEOPLE IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT AND
IS ALSO CAPABLE OF CHANGING THE BELIEFS AND ACTIONS OF OTHER
PEOPLE TOO.
• FURTHERMORE, THE REACTIONS OF THE CHILD TO INDIVIDUALS IN THEIR
MICROSYSTEM CAN INFLUENCE HOW THEY TREAT THEM IN RETURN.
• THE INTERACTIONS WITHIN MICROSYSTEMS ARE OFTEN VERY PERSONAL &
ARE CRUCIAL FOR FOSTERING AND SUPPORTING THE CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT.
• IF A CHILD HAS A STRONG NURTURING RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR PARENTS,
THIS IS SAID TO HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON THE CHILD. WHEREAS, DISTANT
AND UNAFFECTIONATE PARENTS WILL HAVE A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON THE
CHILD.
 MESOSYSTEM
• THE MESOSYSTEM ENCOMPASSES THE INTERACTIONS
BETWEEN THE CHILD’S MICROSYSTEMS, SUCH AS THE
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE CHILD’S PARENTS AND
TEACHERS, OR BETWEEN SCHOOL PEERS AND SIBLINGS.
• THE MESOSYSTEM IS WHERE A PERSON'S INDIVIDUAL
MICROSYSTEMS DO NOT FUNCTION INDEPENDENTLY, BUT
ARE INTERCONNECTED AND ASSERT INFLUENCE UPON
ONE ANOTHER
• FOR INSTANCE, IF A CHILD’S PARENTS COMMUNICATE WITH
THE CHILD’S TEACHERS, THIS INTERACTION MAY
INFLUENCE THE CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT. ESSENTIALLY, A
MESOSYSTEM IS A SYSTEM OF MICROSYSTEMS.
 EXOSYSTEM
• IT INCORPORATES OTHER FORMAL AND
INFORMAL SOCIAL STRUCTURES, WHICH
DO NOT THEMSELVES CONTAIN THE CHILD,
BUT INDIRECTLY INFLUENCE THEM AS THEY
AFFECT ONE OF THE MICROSYSTEMS.
• NEIGHBORHOOD, PARENT’S WORKPLACES,
PARENT’S FRIENDS AND THE MASS MEDIA.
• ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH THE CHILD IS
NOT INVOLVED, AND ARE EXTERNAL TO
THEIR EXPERIENCE, BUT NONETHELESS
AFFECTS THEM ANYWAY.
 MACROSYSTEM
• FOCUSES ON HOW CULTURAL ELEMENTS AFFECT A CHILD'S DEVELOPMENT, SUCH AS:
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, WEALTH, POVERTY, AND ETHNICITY.
• THUS, CULTURE THAT INDIVIDUALS ARE IMMERSED WITHIN MAY INFLUENCE THEIR BELIEFS AND
PERCEPTIONS ABOUT EVENTS THAT TRANSPIRE IN LIFE.
• THE MACROSYSTEM DIFFERS FROM THE PREVIOUS ECOSYSTEMS AS IS DOES NOT REFER TO THE
SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENTS OF ONE DEVELOPING CHILD, BUT THE ALREADY ESTABLISHED SOCIETY
AND CULTURE WHICH THE CHILD IS DEVELOPING IN.
• THIS CAN ALSO INCLUDE THE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, ETHNICITY, GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION AND
IDEOLOGIES OF THE CULTURE.
 CHRONOSYSTEM

• THIS SYSTEM CONSISTS OF ALL OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES THAT OCCUR OVER
THE LIFETIME WHICH INFLUENCE DEVELOPMENT
• MAJOR LIFE TRANSITIONS, HISTORICAL EVENTS.
E.G:
STARTING SCHOOL

PARENTS GETTING A DIVORCE

HAVING TO MOVE TO A NEW HOUSE.
 CRITICISMS OF BROFENBRENNER’S THEORY
PROS:
• SHOWED HOW MULTIPLE INFLUENCES AFFECT THE CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT EVEN WHEN THE CHILD
ISN’T DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THE SITUATION
• EMPHASIZES INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING/”ONE SIZE FITS ALL” NOT NOT ALWAYS WORK

WEAKNESSES:
• ABLE TO PINPOINT THE DEVELOPMENT STAGES OF LIFE & THE DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH
ARE ASSOCIATED BUT DOES NOT PROVIDE REASONS FOR BEHAVIOR
• DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT/NO DETAILED MECHANISMS
BROFENBRENNER’S ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
THEORY
 BROFENBRENNER’S ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
THEORY
Bronfenbrenner’s theory has much to offer
early years practitioners; it provides a much
wider focus on those vast and often unseen
environmental influences that impact indirectly
on the lives of children.
Though Bronfenbrenner’s theory has been
criticised on the grounds that it does not pay
sufficient attention to the individual development
of children it, nevertheless, offers a very useful
means of thinking about how wider and often
unseen aspects of society in which children grow
up impact on their development and learning.
“CHILDREN NEED PEOPLE TO
BECOME HUMAN”
“EVERY KID NEED AT LEAST
ONE ADULT WHO IS CRAZY
ABOUT HIM/HER”
10 Q