Bronfenbrenners ecological theory

Running Head : Bronfenbrenner 's Ecological Theory

Bronfenbrenner 's Ecological Theory

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Bronfenbrenner 's Ecological System Theory defines development as a continuous interaction between a developing individual and the enduring environment that he or she is involved in (Paquette Ryan , 2001 . That is , interconnections occur between the individual and environment as well as within different levels of environment . This research will explain the four different stages of a child 's development and how those different factors affect the growth and maturation of an

individual . It will justify how an individual is shaped and how he or she grows and matures from childhood until he or she reaches the stage of adulthood

Bronfenbrenners Ecological Theory

In developmental psychology , there are different theories on how an individual grows and develops . One well known theory is the Ecological Theory Development of Urie Bronfenbrenner . This theory emphasizes the importance of the relationship between an individual and the different environmental systems and how they can be related to each other . During early childhood , a person 's development is influenced by various factors such as the different types of the environment . Thus , Bronfenbrenner 's Ecological Theory shows how an individual grows and matures . It also explains each system 's effect on a child 's development (Paquette Ryan 2001

According to Bronfenbrenner , there are four different systems that influence an individual to develop as a person . First is the Microsystem which refers to the immediate environments such as family , classroom friends , and neighborhoods . Second is the Mesosystem which pertains to child 's home and school . Third is called the Exosystem which the individual 's development is not directly involved in such as parent 's workplace . Last is the Macrosystem which points to a large cultural context such as Western and Asian cultures . These four different systems explain how a person changes and develops their personality traits in life (Paquette Ryan , 2001

In the first stage , when a child is born , he or she is taken care of by either the mother or a nanny . These individuals have a very big role in shaping the child 's characteristics . While there are studies which show that some personality traits can be actually inherited from both parents , the environment still has a big impact on developing a person 's characteristics . In the Microsystem environment , an infant usually spends the whole day with the family or the mother . Here , the characteristics of the child are already being developed . In the case of children whose parents are both working and the child is always accompanied by the nanny , there is a greater chance that the child will most likely acquire character traits of the nanny instead of the parents since they are always together and they spend the whole time together (Paquette Ryan , 2001

Neighbors and friends in school are also a big factor in the microsystem level . When the child starts to go to school , it would be a new environment for him or her to learn...