American psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory – created as an alternative to earlier child development theories in the early 1970’s – views child development as a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment, from immediate settings of family and school to broad cultural values, laws, and customs. It implies that in order to study a child’s development, we must look not only at the child and his/her immediate environment, but also at the interaction of the larger environment as well.
Bronfenbrenner divided the person’s environment into different systems stating that the microsystem is the most influential level of the ecological systems theory. These are the most immediate environmental settings containing the developing child, such as family and school.
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory has implications for educational practice and has provided the basis for stakeholder engagement in education as a primary theoretical basis.
The world has changed a lot since this theory was introduced in terms of technological developments. However, it could still be said that the ecosystem of a child could be expanded to include social media, video gaming and other modern-day interactions within the ecological system.
This could suggest that the ecological systems are still valid, but will expand over time to include new modern developments.
The Ecological Systems Theory has been used to link psychological and educational theory to educational curricula and practice. At the centre of the theory is the developing child, and all that occurs within and between the ecological systems are done so to benefit the child in the classroom.
To strengthen the development between the ecological systems in educational practice according to the theory, teachers and parents should keep good communication with each other and work together to benefit the child.
Teachers should also be understanding of the situations their student’s families may be experiencing, including social and economic factors that are part of the various systems.
According to the theory, if parents and teachers have a good relationship, this should shape the child’s development in a positive way.
Likewise, the child must also be active in their learning, engaged both academically and socially. They must work as a team with their peers and get involved in meaningful learning experiences to enable positive development.
Essay:
In your learning journal make an entry about the other “players” in your students’ environment. Point out the one(s) you have the best collaboration with and the one(s) you need to build stronger relationships with.