ECED 2340 Family & Community Engagement Project: Bronfenbrenner Ecological Systems Theory

The central concept of this review underscores the fact that the development of a feeling of belonging at school occurs because of different interactions between developing students and the school’s ecological environment over time. This review argues that Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological Systems Theory can best explain the development of school belonging by highlighting the role of PPCT (Process, Person, Context, and Time). The process includes the interactions (proximal and distal) that occur between students and their school’s ecological systems. The person considers the active role of students in influencing their development. The context encompasses the school’s ecological systems. The time includes events and the chronological age of students. The review highlights the most important proximal practices and interactions that occur in school microsystems and play a significant role in enhancing students’ sense of belonging. Empirical, longitudinal research that focuses on the interactions of all the components of the PPCT model is recommended.

Based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, this qualitative study examined the impact of home visits on a group of six Head Start educators. Each participant conducted two home visits. For the first home visit, participants were not provided any guidance. On the second visit, participants were provided a handout with questions intended to guide their visit. The participants were asked to document, in a reflective journal, their feelings and attitudes toward the children’s families on two visits. Additionally, participants commented on their teaching beliefs and practice as impacted by their home visit. Results of the study indicated that home visits enabled participants to see the families and children that they work with from a different and more positive perspective. The guided home visit questions allowed participants to better understand children and their families from historical and cultural perspectives. Also, participants were better able to create a more multicultural learning environment and lesson plans for their children.

From the book A Scholarly Contribution to Educational Praxis

Children's emotional and behavioural difficulties are the result of multiple individual, social and contextual factors working in concert. The current paper proposes a theoretical framework for interpreting students' emotional and behavioural difficulties in classrooms, by taking into consideration teacher-student interactions, students' social skills and classroom context. Based on Bronfenbrenner's model, according to which process, person and context are the main sources of children's development, the current paper combines three theoretical approaches: firstly, in terms of process, the systems communication approach, which refers to teacher–student interactions; secondly, in terms of person, social and emotional learning, which refers to children's social skills; and thirdly, in terms of classroom context, the achievement goal theory, with its emphasis on the mastery of classroom goal structure. Empirical support for the framework resulted in the administration of four instruments to 962 primary students: (a) QTI for teacher–student interactions, (b) MESSY for students' social skills; (c) CGS for classroom context; and (d) SDQ for students' emotional and behavioural difficulties. It was found that students' possession of social skills had a prominent role in the prediction of emotional and behavioural difficulties, while teacher–student interactions and classroom context also affected students' emotional and behavioural difficulties. This perspective provides educators with a theoretical and practical tool for understanding emotional and behavioural difficulties.

This article critiques three features of Bronfenbrenner's (1979, 1992) ecological theory of human development in relationship to the development of children with disabilities: (a) developmentally instigative person characteristics, (b) hierarchical environmental systems of influence, and (c) the dimension of time. The study of development within the context of home, school, and community has been significantly advanced by ecological psychology. Although the ecological paradigm has been invoked in the disability literature as a framework for child, classroom, and family investigations, few studies provide a comprehensive treatment of the model. Bronfenbrenner's recently expanded theory provides a provocative framework for the study of children with disabilities. This framework includes the identification of ecological niches; that is, unique regions in the environment that differentially influence children with particular personal characteristics. Selected studies from the disability literature illustrate the incorporation of the three features into research on children with disabilities and their families. Suggestions for shifting research paradigms toward a more comprehensive approach to the study of development and change in children with disabilities are provided.

This study aims to explore profiles of preschool teachers' intentions when they divide the children into subgroups. Interactionist perspectives, Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, and a pedagogical perspective on preschool quality provide the foundation for the study's theoretical framework. By applying a person-centered analytical procedure, the study analyzes preschool teachers' considerations of a set of intentional indicators involved in grouping practices related to conditions for supportive classroom environment, opportunities for children's play and interactions, and preschool teachers' direct involvement in children's learning. The sample consists of 698 preschool teachers from preschools in 46 municipalities in Sweden. Two intentional profiles were identified: a relational profile and an organizational profile. The patterns of play and learning opportunities, increasing communication and interaction, and opportunities for children to share their experiences and interests were the most distinctive patterns across the two profiles. Preschool teachers' consideration of grouping practices as appropriate for working with a specific learning goal was equally emphasized in both profiles. These findings provide insight into preschool teachers' pedagogical approaches and yield implications for the design of continuing professional development models for preschool teachers.

This paper will review the literature on the rate, stability, and outcomes associated with externalizing behavior problems prior to kindergarten entry. Bronfenbrenner's (The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press) ecological framework will be used to present the factors related to the onset and persistence of externalizing behavior problems in young children. Behavior problems prior to school entry are somewhat developmentally appropriate and most can be resolved within the classroom or child care setting. Intervention for children with moderate to severe behavior problems in early childhood is crucial because behavior problems are likely to persist into elementary school leading to a variety of social and academic concerns. Steps will be presented to help teachers determine whether or not a referral to a specialist is needed and locate an appropriate specialist.

From the book, Approaches to Early Childhood and Elementary Education

The original 1976 Article

Today's families face many stressors during the early childhood years. Particular stressors like homelessness, violence, and chemical dependence, play havoc with the family system. Urie Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological perspective offers an insightful lens for understanding and supporting families under stress. This article presents the key elements of Bronfenbrenner's perspective and applies this perspective to strategies for effectively helping families under stress. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

A profile of Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005), the world-renowned child psychologist who was a pioneer in studying the behavior of children in their natural life space of family, school, peer group, and community, is provided. Bronfenbrenner tied all aspects of a child's world together to create a new field of study, the ecology of human development, that was based on the premise that trusting bonds with children are the most powerful force in positive youth development.

Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, a report produced by the National Research Council's Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children, consists of a synthesis of early reading-related research and provides a large number of recommendations to a range of audiences. Bronfenbrenner's systems model is a mechanism that could be employed to plan actions and initiatives for implementation of the report's recommendations, to guide the assessment of those actions and initiatives, and to carry out research on the impact of the recommendations. The use of this model to plan implementation of the report's recommendations would facilitate a view across the different systems and the identification of barriers to and supports for implementation.