Understanding Child Development through Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory: A Case Study of Matthew

This article discusses the impact of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory on child development through a case study of Matthew. It explores the microsystem and mesosystem and suggests techniques for teachers to help children like Matthew. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding a child's development and the active collaboration of parents and teachers.

Running head: PARAPHRASE
Paraphrase
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The development in children can be understood through a number of theories,
methodologies, approaches and case studies, these methods helps in understanding the scope of
learning about the various developmental stages found in the children, their behaviours and the
connection between the effect of changes upon an individual (Hoffnung, Hoffnung, Seifert,
Smith & Hine, 2010). Development of an individual is considered to be a process of the physical
and the social changes that the individual goes through, the biological, social and the emotional
growth experienced by the person whether knowingly or unknowingly (Hoffnung, Hoffnung,
Seifert, Smith & Hine, 2010). According to Bronfebrenner’s “ecological system theory” the
individuals are impacted in numerous ways (Hoffnung et al., 2010). According to this theory the
growth and development of an individual depends upon or is influenced by each and everything
surrounding the individuals with the help of five interrelated frameworks or systems. These five
systems are “microsystem”, “mesosystem”, “exosystem”, “macrosystem” and the
“chronosystem” (Swick & Williams, 2006). This is quite evident as Bronfenbrenner found that
the children live and grow while existing within these various frameworks, environments and
situations (Marion, 2011). The various environments help the children to experience all round
development in their mental as well as physical health.
Krause further clarifies the ecological theory by saying that earth and the environment is
in a way influenced by the different practices and behaviours and the qualities possessed by each
and every people existing within the ecological systems. Similarly the behaviour and the
constitution of an individual is also hugely influenced by the nature of the environment or the
ecosystem he/ she is brought up in (Marion, 2011). This essay will assess how the behaviour and
the conduct of Matthew are affected by the microsystem and the mesosystem, which belongs to

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the five ecosystems of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory. This assessment will further help the
educators to examine the suggestions, which in turn they can use to learn about the pro-social
behaviour of Matthew and to learn his behaviour conduct.
Matthew is 5 years old he belongs to a blended family. He resides with his mother Laura
and Stuart who is his stepfather. He has two younger step siblings , Tegan, Olivia who is aged
two and Diesel who is 5 months old. Laura does not let Stuart to parent Matthew she considers
Matthew to be her child. The two parents have divided their family, with Laura looking after
Matthew and Stuart looking after Tegan and Olivia. Due to this situation, Stuart seems to move
far away from bonding with Matthew because he is not his biological father. The family also
have a gym and there Matthew is able to spend some time. The parents believe that Matthew has
learnt all his violence from the gym.
The microsystem as stated in the “Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory” refers to
the interactions that the child faces within his/her immediate environment (Krause, 2013).
Matthew chiefly interacts with his immediate family comprising of, as previously mentioned, his
mother Laura, stepfather and two other half brother and sister. Although Laura and Stuart are
both in a good relationship, yet Laura does not let Stuart to teach discipline to Matthew and this
is one of the biggest flaws in Laura’s upbringing. Both of the parents see that Matthew’s younger
half sister Olivia is imitating the behaviour of Matthew and they are worried about it and they
believe that if they do not sort out the problem then they may have to face greater issues in the
future. According to Laura, Matthew has almost three or four tantrums per day where he kicks
and punches others. After such an incident Matthew is normally sent into his own room as a form
of punishment and the door is kept shut. Laura is confused why Matthew acts in such a way but
she lets him to throw tantrums. According to Baumrind that both the parents should work with

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each other to “influence, teach and control their children” (Darling, 2000) and with the help of
this behaviour, in this way the children are able to feel secure (Erikson, 1963).
According to Baumrind’s works related to parenting, it is evident that Stuart is neglecting
and rejecting his responsibilities towards Matthew, he does not enforce any rules upon Matthew
and almost neglects him in comparison with his other kids (Robinson et al., 1995). However, as
Stuart says in the video it is not his intention to neglect his duties as a father towards Matthew.
Laura’s approach seems to be warmer and it seems to be much more indulgent and permissive,
she has her own set of rules and at the same time she is loving towards Matthew (Robinson et al.,
1995).
Due to such different parenting approaches by both parents, Matthew has reached the
Erikson’s stage of trust versus mistrust (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters and Wall, 1978; Bowlby,
1969). Even though Laura and Stuart does not want to be inconsistent and neglectful towards
Matthew yet they do so and due to this reason Matthew finds it difficult to resolve his conflicts
with his parents and his siblings and his behaviour is evident from his kicking, pushing and
punching others and also swearing(Raikes & Carolyn, 2009). This behaviour of Matthew is
captured in the situation when he starts to cry and kick when it was his bed-time and he did not
want to go. In that situation Stuart did not intervene to help and Laura told Matthew “if you want
to kick someone you kick me”, this in turn confused Matthew.
The second framework of “Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems” that influences
Matthew’s development is the mesosytem. The mesosytem indicates the relationship between the
child and the environment in which he/she is living (Krause, 2013). In this case, it refers to the
connection of Matthew with their owned gym. Matthew’s frequent visits to the gym make him a

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witness to the boxing matches and he is also able to participate by putting on the gloves and
punching a boxing bag. Whenever Matthew feels upset he imitates his experiences in the gym,
he kicks and punches his parents and injures them, for example in the beginning of the episode
he hit his mother in the face which led her to bleed from her lips. According to Jo Frost,
Matthew’s violent behaviour can be linked with his home environment, which in turn can be
associated with Piaget’s theory and the development of egocentrism in Matthew (Gartell, 2011).
Matthew imitates whatever he sees in the gym and depicts it in his home environment (Gartell,
2011).
“The theory of multiple intelligences” can also be linked with this situation and the effect
of mesosystem upon Matthew’s development. Gardner (2011) states that the environment in
which children grows up tend to influence their “multiple intelligences”. The episode shows how
Matthew learns to calm down following a chart, which indentifies that even though he is exposed
to violence yet he calms himself following a certain routine.
As soon as Jo Frost interrupted, she was able to point out the issues which where
occupying the family with. The most important issue being the fact Laura was strict about not
letting Stuart to groom and discipline Matthew and Stuart was incapable of feeling a connection
or kinship for Matthew due to Laura. She however, talked at length with the parents on the
significance of working in collaboration for the advantage of the children, and especially
Matthew.
In anyway Laura was not letting Stuart to groom Matthew like she mentions in the video
that she does not like the fact that Stuart is training Matthew. As a result, Stuart started to
maintain a distance from Matthew resulting in the growth of a risk factor in the development

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which was slowly becoming apparent from his un-understandable, uncaring and neglectful way
of parenting (Kids Matter, n.d.). with the development of this hostile situation Matthew starts to
behave in a rather arrogant manner with a clear complexity in comprehending and making
adequate usage of language (Kids Matter, n.d.). These facts are moreover connected to the fact
that Matthew is habituated with boxing but it was not previously mentioned to him that sort of
hitting is not permissible inside the house . the video is responsible for identifying the risk
factors that are associated with Matthew’s behaviour which has placed his parents in a difficult
situation and as a result Matthew ultimately remains in dark about understanding severity of his
behaviour (Kids Matter, n.d.), one of the consequences is his mother’s bleeding.
With the active help of Jo Frost and rules, time out and the ‘chill out chair’ it helped to
eradicate Matthew’s anger and aggressiveness. His parents finally become united as a result
Matthew began to realize their roles. He additionally improved his own behaviour and it worked
positively on Mathhew’s internal risk of factors. He developed the potential to point out, express
and manage the problems (Kids Matter, n.d.). His behaviour reflected a positivity and hope for
the distant future (Kids Matter, n.d.). the process of making Matthew sit on the chill out chair
whenever he grew violent and hit his mother helped him a lot. This continued for five minutes
and calmed him for better.
During Mattthews’s departure for school, his parents are responsible to ensure on
informing the educator about his past behaviour s. The teacher should take an active interest to
know more about this. A thorough understanding will able the teacher to relate with him on a
deeper able, he should be seen as a part of family. It is teacher’s role to help Matthew with the
right implementation of policies and steps practices (Stormont, Lewis, Beckner, & Richter,
2008). A number of techniques have to be used for it for instance the development of a

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transparent relationship with the parents, scaffolding, praising and encouraging specific
behaviour s and precorrective statements.
With the method of scaffolding within the classroom, teachers are capable of interfering
for developing children’s learning and development of knowledge and understanding(Gartrell,
2011). This is termed as zone of proximal development as defined by Vygotsky (Gartrell, 2011).
If the teacher is informed of Matthhew’s zone of proximal development, it will generate an
efficient planning to increase and develop his level of learning. The determined tasks will oot
contribute to his frustration but will help him feel accomplished and happy. This will work on his
self-esteem which is inter-connected to Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale in which case Matthew
can instead position himself at a higher point in the scale (1965).
With precorrective statements the expectations of behaviour during set activity is
described. They are generally enumeratedat the beginning of every single activity and can be
asked in the fashion of question and answer. This makes room for the children for more thinking
on the right answer (De Pry &Sugai, 2002). With the right usage of these statements with
Matthew, the outline of rules ad expectations can be highlighted properly during the completion
of activity. It helps the child in answering according to the teachers’ own expected ideas
(Haydon & Scott, 2008). Precoorective statements are accompanied with continuous supervision
and mentoring of behaviour to make sure that the children are abiding by what has been set for
them therefore reducing further confrontations.
As the teacher incorporates appreciations to specific behavior, the students are provided
with the chance to acknowledge their improvement and the same is applicable for those children
who are not sticking by the accepted behavior. They commit themselves to these in order to get

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acknowledged (Conroy et al., 2009). By the usage of this technique in the classroom, Matthew
will be given the opportunity to rectify his behavior in case he is misbehaving. He will be able to
do so without feeling frustrated or lowering his self-esteem or his self-worth which can naturally
result in a de-motivation within the participant.
There has been vast amount of research on the development of a child and regarding the
best possible manner of bringing a child up. The theory of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems
has identified five systems, which are responsible for having an impression on the child as well
as his development. Understanding a child’s development is a matter of in-depth research and
takes the active collaboration of understanding and loving parents as well as teachers. They need
to understand the child in order to make him feel loved and nurtured to participate in a better
manner with the society. Open relationship with one’s parents and community is an essential
aspect for an all-round understanding of the child’s thought process and emotions. The Early
Years Learning Framework is of the opinion that a sense of belonging is ‘integral to human
existence’ (DEEWR, 2009, p.7). As a teacher it is of utmost importance to take into
consideration that every children has the right to acknowledgement and value.