Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory in the Classroom

Bronfenbrenner, an American psychologist, created the Ecological Systems Theory to show how an individual, specifically a child, is impacted by the environment. He noted the importance of looking at each level to help better understand development. This theory starts with the child’s home environment and moves all the way out to factors due to time. This model shows how each level interacts and influences the others.

The different levels of the model include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. In the classroom, we must understand each of these levels and how they impact our students. The microsystem is closest to the child and includes home life, school life, and the personal relationships with those individuals from each aspect. The mesosystem is how the levels work together. An example of this is the connection of school to home. The exosystem reaches into things like the parent’s work place, extended family, and neighborhoods. Culture, politics, and economics fall into the level that is furthest away from the child. Finally, the chronosystem adds time to the model which considers change and constancy.

Bronfenbrenner’s theory leads right into the classroom. This theory was designed to look at how everything in a child’s life and environment acts on the growth and development of the child. As teachers we must understand which parts we play a role in and how each level is impacting the children in our classes. We need to be aware of how we are directly playing a part in the lives of our students as well as how we indirectly impact the levels in this model.

Examining these levels can also help us understand behaviors. Behavior is a way of communication and using this model can help us better understand student behaviors and what they need. This model can also be used to look at the growth and development of students.

This model will play a key role in my classroom. A large focus in early childhood is growth and development, and this theory by Bronfenbrenner goes in depth on what influences growth and development for children. It is something I can use to assess the growth and development of my students. This really provides a good framework to really be able to consider all environmental factors.