< BACHELOR OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION WITH HONOURS >

< MAY / 2011>

< HBEC1103>

< THE ECOLOGICAL THEORY OF URIE BRONFENBRENNER ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT >

MATRICULATION NO IDENTITY CARD NO. TELEPHONE NO. E-MAIL LEARNING CENTRE

: : : : :

630308035426001 630308035426 0197791454 norizam_63@oum.edu.my OUM KELANTAN

Table of content

1.0 Introduction..2 2.0 Findings3 3.0 Literature review...6 4.0 Conclusion7 5.0 Reference..8

1.0 Introduction The human mind is much like a sponge. Generally complete in its architecture, built and held together by tiny strands given to it by nature, a sponge is designed to absorb its environment and flourish based on the quality of the environment it takes in and of which it grows to become a working part. For the sponge, once nature plays its part, it is the quality of the water around it that defines its development; for the mind, once nature has played its part, it is the quality of the relationships around it that define its development. Such development in either case begins in the earliest stages of life. The mind guides human interactions and behavior throughout life. Through adequate nutrition, the mind maintains the architecture given to it by nature. Through stimulation, the mind can further develop to its potential. As cognitive development begins in the earliest stages of life, there is no moment that matters more than those a child spends with his/her parents. In every minute the interaction that occurs during this time, from the simplicity of an affectionate hug to punishment for wrongdoing, matters. The relationship between parent and child is a good determinant of how well a child will adjust to being outside of the home, as well as what kind of relationships they will form with people outside of their parents. The relationship between parent and child remains an undercurrent throughout the life span, as it can define a childs early integration into society, as well as their behavior at later points in life. Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) has developed an ecological theory which has influence the childs development. Even though we realize that every child is special and grow in his or her unique way, there are general patterns children tend to follow as they grow up. This theory emphasizes that in order to shape the childs development, the combination of childs biological disposition and environmental force must come together. The ecological theory consists of five interrelating environmental systems which are the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem. All the systems are interacting between one another thus contribute to the childs development. Each level of the theory plays a role in the decision making process and situations throughout a childs development, which ultimately shape that child into a content, happy, bitter or sad adult. The more encouraging and nurturing these relationships and places are, the better the child will be able to grow.

2.0 Finding The ecological theory is defined as sociocultural view of development. There are five environmental systems ranging from fine-grained inputs of direct interactions with social agents to broad-based input of culture. First and foremost, he describes the theory as the child is located at the center of a circle with several layers surrounding him. The first layer surrounding the child is called a microsystem. The microsystem is the small immediate environment which the child lives in. This level has the most immediate and earliest influence on a child. It is because the child is greatly affected by the setting in which he spends most of the time. The most important setting for a child is his family where he spends the most of the time and because it has the most emotional influence on him. When parents are unable to provide a loving relationship to their children, perhaps due to divorce, travel, or death, children may become angry, aggressive, or physically ill. Bronfenbrenner uses the term bi-directional because it has impact in two directional. For example, the bi-directional takes place between mother and child, father and child and teacher and child. The mother, father and also teacher can influence the childs belief and behavior, but the child also can influence them as well. Other important setting may include his extended family, local neighborhood or community institutions such as the school, religious institutions and peer groups as well as the specific culture within which the family identifies. Extended family is where relatives live with the family. The relatives living with the family would help care for the child. The child would develop a strong relationship with a lot of members of the family and it also built a strong sense of security. Moreover, the peer also has a great influence on the child development. The friendship affects the child to grow emotionally and socially. Within these relationships they experience aggression, anger, fear, rejection and even betrayal. So, they learn appropriate social behavior, how to become a leader, how to follow, fairness and how to win and lose gracefully. They can learn about attitude, character and personality. Building good relationships can boost a childs self esteem and they will find comfort in those friendships when things get tough. Another factor in microsystem is religious influence. An infant child come in the world will develop a good character while growing into adulthood due to the influence upon him during development years. For example, nearly all the world religions, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity are present in Malaysia. Religion correlates strongly with ethnicity, with most Muslims Malay, most Hindus Indian, and most Buddhists Chinese. The presence of such diversity heightens the importance of religious identity, and most Malaysians have a strong sense of how their religious practice differs from that of others. So, in Islamic belief, living according to Islamic values will naturally develop the child into the good and right human being. Besides, the childs who is growing in a better conducive environment or neighborhood also is protected from the bad influence. The second level of the ecology theory is the mesosystem. This system described on how different part of microsystem such as home, neighborhood, school, and child-care center that work together for the sake of the child development. For example according to Bronfenbrenner,
3

the childs ability to learn to read is influenced not only by the competence of the teacher but also by the quality of the relationship between the school and the home. If the relationship and channels of communication between the school and the home are strained, then the child is less likely to be encouraged to read at home and therefore less likely do well at school. Parent involvement has been recognized as an important component of education for many decades. Parents are recognized as their childs first and most important teachers. Therefore, it is believed that those parents who pay more attention on their childs academic can produce successful children in the future. Moreover, the interaction between parent and the neighbour also influence the child development. The parent who has good relationship with their neighbour shows a good role model to the child where a good social relationship is important in people lives. People cannot live alone. They need help and support from people around them. So, by having a good relationship can teach the child to appreciate the others and be good to them as a human being. So, this level is close related with the microsystem as stated by Bronfenbrenner,U.(1994) The mesosystem comprise the linkage and processes taking place between two or more settings containing the developing person...a mesosystem is a system of microsystem.1 The third theory of Bronfenbrenner is the exosystem. The exosystem refers to social setting that affects the child but do not include the child. The child may not be directly involved at these level, but he does feel the positive or negative force involved with the interaction with his own environment. Economic status is one of the largest external influences on a childs development. The income of a parent or parents directly influences the quality of care and the quality of life a child has. Children living in impoverished or low-income situations have their share of reasons to feel sad, fearful, or angry. These children are, often times, more prone to emotional difficulties than other children because parents have limited resources to address the childrens needs. However, gaining higher economic status does not guarantee better child development. As a parent disengages from their child during early years for workplace commitments, the childs development suffers. With decreased mental and emotional development, the child may fail to form stable relationships and develop short of their intellectual potential. They exhibit lower scores in school readiness and mathematics. In addition, they exhibit decreased emotional aptitude and feelings of security, and increased behavioral problems. Another example is if a parent works for a company that does not have a flexible work schedule and the child is ill and needs attention, the parent may not be able to come home and take care of the child. The parent may need to ask neighbor or someone to look at the child but this is not as nurturing as the parent himself. Also, this puts a lot of stress on the Bronfenbrenner,U.(1994). Ecological model of development. In International Encyclopedia of Education, Vol. 3, 2nd.Ed. Oxford:Elsevier. Reprinted in:Gauvain,M. & Cole,M. (Eds.), Reading on Development on Children, 2nd.Ed. (1993,pp.37-43).NY:Freeman. Retrieved July 3, 2011 from http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/35bronfebrenner94.pdf
1

parent if the workplace is not lenient. The parent may not have time for their child. The child will feel that they are not laved and cherished by his parents. This contributes to the bad behavior of the child in the future. The state of neighborhood also is another factor that influences the childs behavior. The neighborhood contexts present both risk and protective factors that are thought to influence child adjustment in a variety of ways. For example, neighborhoods are thought to influence youth adjustment by regulating exposure to stressors and access to resources, with fewer resources and higher levels of stress increasing residents' risk for problems. Yet, the neighborhood factors can also be protective, such as when emotional needs for a sense of belonging and support are met by neighborhood social processes. The macrosystem involve attitudes or ideologies of the culture in which individuals live. It includes things such as the relative freedoms permitted by the national government, cultural values, the economy, wars, etc. These things can also affect a child either positively or negatively. For example, if a child of Asian descent is raised by his family to believe that hard work and determination is proper, he will more likely succeed in his life. Asians are commonly known for the incredible scholastic achievements. This is the effect of the Asian culture (macrosystem) on the relations that the child will hold within the microsystem. A child who comes from a different culture is raised in different way to a child comes from another different culture. It is because, they grows in different culture and different environment as Mcnulty,J. (2003) propose that the striking differences in child-rearing practices reflect the diverse range of what is considered developmentally appropriate for children around the world, depending on their cultural circumstances. For example in Malaysia itself, there are different races that make up the culture in Malaysia. This is to say Malaya culture has drawn influence from Chinese, Indian, Persian, Arab, European and various indigenous tribes dating back to more than fifteen hundred years ago. Each child from different cuture is raised in different way thus develop different behavior among the children. In this country, the children are totally different to one another in term of language, race, religious and culture practice. Moreover, War and other massive trauma experiences can have devastating effects because of effects on parents, survival needs, and harm to fundamental systems that nurture and protect child development. The greatest effect on children occur when parents are killed, harmed, terrified, or unable to function and when the child experiences violent harm to self or loved ones, threats of such violence, or engages in harming others. As stated in ScienceDaily(2008), the studys findings were based on interviews with 96 Colombian children and indicate that war will encourage children to steal when they feel physical threatened, almost always expect violent behavior from anyone in daily life, and view acts of violence as an option in any circumstance. Furthermore, these children exhibit a sense of distrust of others. There is a sense among these children that violence and stealing become an alternative, particularly the older the children are. Last but not least is the chronosystem. This system is the last system that Bronfenbrenner developed. This system develops as a result of a persons experience in his life, this includes environmental events and transitions in an individuals life, and this also includes the history of
5

individual. For example, divorce is one transition. Researchers have found that negative effects of divorce on children often peak in the first year after the divorce (Hetherington, 1993). By two years after the divorce, family interaction is less chaotic and more stable. As an example of sociohistorical circumstances, consider how the opportunities for women to pursue a career have increased during the last thirty years (Santrock, 2008). As stated by Bronfenbrenner (1994), As children get older, they may react differently to environmental changes and may be able to determine more how that change will influence them2

3.0 Literature review Parents and community are very important in child development. It is because the parent is the first teacher before they enter school. Therefore, parent should always educate the children before and after school. Learning is not only comes from teacher, but it should also must continued at home. This is not benefits the children, but the parent can also gain the knowledge, skills and confidence through the presentation and sharing of knowledge from the teacher. As stated in Substantial research supports family involvement, and a growing body of intervention evaluation demonstrates that family involvement can be strengthening with positive results for young children and their school readiness.3(2006) The participation of parents, guardians and the community give a positive impact on the childs learning development. First of all, they play an important role to strengthen the childrens learning. For example, the practice of greeting to elderly and say grateful words should be incorporated into the child from a very young age. The other practice that should be practiced at home is reading the prayer learned in school. Therefore, the child does not quickly forget the lesson studied in school. The parent should encourage their children to read, write, draw and do the meaningful activities at home. In addition, parents can also help the

Bronfenbrenner,U.(1994). Ecological model of development. In International Encyclopedia of Education, Vol. 3, 2nd.Ed. Oxford:Elsevier. Reprinted in:Gauvain,M. & Cole,M. (Eds.), Reading on Development on Children, 2nd.Ed. (1993,pp.37-43).NY:Freeman. Retrieved July 3, 2011 from http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/35bronfebrenner94.pdf
3

Harvard Family Research Project (2006). Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education. Retrieved

July 6, 2011 from

www.hfrp.org/content/download/1181/48685/.../earlychildhood.pdf

children by contributing energy and materials. The parents can help their children by providing teaching and learning tool so that they can learn in the conducive environment. The community can also participate in school activities by contributing the welfare services. For example, they can contribute to the telematch activities or in the yearly theatre. They also can involve in collaborative activities held in the school. Their help can lighten the works as well as can strengthen the relationship among the community members.

4.0 Conclusion Bronfenbrenner created the ecological theory in child development. This is his environmental approach to development. The five systems within this theory are the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem. Applying this system to the achievement of the minority child we see that the odds are stacked against the child most of the time. Urie Bronfenbrenner adopts an ecological approach to studying human development. He believes that the interactions between a child and its family are the main focus of human development. This perspective assumes that the functioning of children and families can be enhanced by strengthening the quality and quantity of relationships, for example relationships within families, among friends, within neighborhoods, at schools and within communities. Bronfenbrenner also stressed the importance of interactions among systems. Systems are situations or contexts within which individuals live their lives. Bronfenbrenner believes that systems can positively or negatively influence families and children. For this reason, communities and social institutions need to work to develop connections between the systems so that there are more positive influences on families and individuals.

5.0 Reference

Bostein,L.(2007). Retrived July 4, 2011 from http://www.childencyclopedia.com/documents/BornsteinANGxp.pdf Bronfenbrenner,U.(1994). Ecological model of development. In International Encyclopedia of Education, Vol. 3, 2nd.Ed. Oxford:Elsevier. Reprinted in:Gauvain,M. & Cole,M. (Eds.), Reading on Development on Children, 2nd.Ed. (1993,pp.37-43).NY:Freeman. Retrieved July 3, 2011 from http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/35bronfebrenner94.pdf Harvard Family Research Project (2006). Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education. Retrieved July 6, 2011 from www.hfrp.org/content/download/1181/48685/.../earlychildhood.pdf Huitt, W. (2009). A systems approach to the study of human behavior. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved July 2, 2011 fromhttp://www.edpsycinteractive.org/materials/sysmdlo.html Mcnulty,J. (2003). New book shows how culture shapes human development. Retrived July 4, 2011 from http://www1.ucsc.edu/currents/02-03/03-24/human_development.html National-Louis University. (2001). Web Quest Project Theory Fact Sheet of Urie Bronfenbrenner. Retrieved July 2,2011, fromhttp://pt3.nl.edu/boemmelbriscoewebquest.pdf Oswalt, A. (2005). Urie Bronfenbrenner and Child Development. Retrieved July 2, 2011 from http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=7930&cn=28 Santrock, W, J. (2008) Life-span development (11th ed). New York, America: McGraw Hill Society for Research in Child Development (2008, July 16). Growing Up Amid War Affects Children's Moral Development. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 6, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715071436.htm Ryan,J.() Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems Theory. Retrieved July 4, 2011 from http://pt3.nl.edu/paquetteryanwebquest.pdf