More handpicked essays just for you.
Environmental factors that influence child development
Environmental factors that influence child development
Environmental factors that influence child development
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Children develop in many ways whether it is socially, emotionally or even physically. However, how a child develops is shown through Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. There are five stages of the theory which are Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem and Macrosystem. All these layers help us understand how children develop. For example, “Bronfenbrenner emphasizes that to understand Child development, we must keep in mind that all relationships are bidirectional” (2000, Berk, p27). This links to the Microsystem as structures in this are those close to the child such as parents and environments such as the neighbourhood, school or even day care centres. How a child develops is mostly based on the Microsystem as “adults affect children’s behaviour” which explains that adults may have a positive or negative effect on a child as “The process and product of making human beings clearly varied by place and time”. (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. xiii) This help us understand when a child is born without having both parents, a school to go to or even a friendly environment like the neighbourhood, this may affect how a child develops as they may not have that fatherly figure in their life or they might not socialise with others due to no neighbourhood which is why a child needs all the structures of a Microsystem for a child to develop as a child needs a parent to give them their physical needs such as growth and helping them with their fine and gross motor skills. The Mesosystem is the interaction of those in the Microsystem such as their environments and settings. However, this is ‘slightly more distant from the child because they do not involve him or her directly but nevertheless influence his/her life’ (Doherty, 2009, p12) For example... ... middle of paper ... ...n are living.” (Bronfenbrenner 1989 p.190) Overall, children may take time to develop but how they develop is based on what they have in their settings and environments and when they do have those layers around them, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory helps us understand that whether it has a negative or positive affect on children, they still develop whether it is socially, emotionally or physically or whether it has a positive or negative effect on them. Works Cited • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) The Ecology of Human Development. Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Pxiii. • Berk LE (2000). Child Development. 5th ed. Needham Heights: MA Allyn and Bacon. p27. • Doherty, J & Hughes M. (2009). Introducing Child Development. In: Child Development Theory and Practice 0-11. England: Pearson Education Limited. p12-52. •