Describing Indigenous Culture from Brofenbrenner's Model Essay 2022

Running head: DESCRIBING INDIGENOUS CULTURE FROM BROFENBRENNER’S MODEL
DESCRIBING INDIGENOUS CULTURE FROM BROFENBRENNER’S MODEL
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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DESCRIBING INDIGENOUS CULTURE FROM BROFENBRENNER’S MODEL
Introduction
The experiences that individuals have during the early years in their life shapes the
opportunities they have as children to become successful and make efficient transitions into
adulthood. For the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in particular, transitioning into
adulthood means going through the emotional, spiritual and physical phase of wellbeing within
their specific culture and community. In order to understand the specifics of child development
in the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, a framework that encompasses all
the aspects has to be included. Urie Brofenbrenner’s bioecological model is the best when it
comes to understanding the development of a child within his or her culture.
The essay aims to present a discussion on the traditional culture of the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people through the lens of Brofenbrenner’s model. The main argument of
the essay is that Brofenbrenner’s model best explains the development of a child within the
specific culture.
Discussion
Acquiring knowledge about the culture and traditions of the Indigenous people is crucial
to become culturally competent when dealing with children from this group (Summerville and
Hokanson, 2019). The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have a different way of
learning, 8 ways to be specific. These eight ways include story sharing, community links,
deconstructing and reconstructing, non-linear, symbols and images, non-verbal, and learning
maps (Painaustralia.org.au, 2019). These are the eight ways with which a non-Aboriginal person
could develop cultural competence for serving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In
Australia, a remarkable distinction and disparity could be found in the developmental outcomes

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DESCRIBING INDIGENOUS CULTURE FROM BROFENBRENNER’S MODEL
of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. For instance, it has been found in the Australian
Early Childhood Development Index that Indigenous children are highly likely to be vulnerable
in terms of development than their non-Indigenous counterparts. One of the major reasons for
this is the disparity between home and school learning in the early years for the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander children (Summerville and Hokanson, 2019). While their home
environment asks them to learn the culture and traditions of the community, the learning in
school asks them to unlearn those cultures and traditions.
Using Brofenbrenner’s ecological model, it could be easier to understand the above
statement. The ecological model comprises five spheres including macrosystem, exosystem,
microsystem, chronosystem and mesosystem (Cyc-net.org, 2019). In the Microsystems, home
and preschool are included and considered the cornerstones of children’s development because
home environment along with the preschool environment has direct influence either negative or
positive. In case of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, family holds the most
crucial part in the Microsystems because they learn about their traditions and cultures in their
home. They learn about their cultures through oral traditions where their parents and elders tell
stories about their ancestors.
The mesosystem includes preschool, school and home. It connects the aspects of the
microsystem of a child that include home, preschool and school. In the mesosystem, the home
environment and early learning at school overlap, which are very crucial for the child. It enables
the child to navigate the components of the Microsystems. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children learned about their spirituality, environment and rules of living through the
Dreaming stories told to them by their parents and elders. This constituted their early years at
home that overlapped with the learning at school (Reconciliationsa.org.au, 2019).

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DESCRIBING INDIGENOUS CULTURE FROM BROFENBRENNER’S MODEL
The exosystems influence the children’s development in both direct and indirect ways as
they constitute conditions and systems of the environment and social respectively that are no
longer present but continue to influence the outcomes for the child. Family employment, support
system, healthcare, housing, local education policy, and community together form the
exosystems. Understanding the exosystems is especially vital for the children belonging to the
minority groups the bias associated with the factors could influence the children and perceptions
relationship because the challenges the minority group faces are beyond the extent of influence
(Summerville and Hokanson, 2019). In the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
children, the components of the exosystems have hardly had any positive influence. Several
school curricula in Australia involved teachings on Aboriginal culture in the pre-colonization era
but nothing about the culture in the era post colonization. This could portray to the non-
Aboriginal children that the Aboriginal culture in the pre-colonization era is the same even
today.
The macrosystem constitutes the overarching political and socio-political environment
that includes political influences, policies of the government, culture, rights and responsibilities,
dominant ideology and social values. In a multicultural society such as Australia, multiple macro
subsystems exist that must be navigated by the communities and families from distinct cultures
(Summerville and Hokanson, 2019). This also exerts an influence on the development of a child.
For the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the traversing or navigating has to be done
in dual ways. First, they have to understand and uphold the traditional Aboriginal macrosystem
having its own set of responsibilities and rights. Second, they have to understand the dominant
macrosystem constituting the rights and principles of the non-Aboriginal community. In trying to

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DESCRIBING INDIGENOUS CULTURE FROM BROFENBRENNER’S MODEL
operate and live within the dominant macrosystem, the Aboriginal people often have to face
various challenges, which further hamper the development of the children.
While the macrosystem comprises the political and socio-cultural ideologies, the
chronosystem encompasses family history, cultural history and community history. Although a
late addition to the Brofenbrenner’s model, the chronosystem hold crucial significance to the
Aboriginal community in particular (Summerville and Hokanson, 2019). The reason is that
according to the chronosystem, family, cultural and community history have strong influence on
children’s development. The Aboriginal Australians still feel the pressure of the past atrocities,
government policies, subjugation, prejudice and family separation. The affect of “Stolen
Generations” is still present in many families and it has to be acknowledged. It is thus important
for those dealing with Aboriginal people do understand the influence of these experiences
because it could be the driving force behind the way they behave, act and engage.
As evident from the discussion above, the development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children would be possible when their cultural background is understood in line with the
dominant paradigm. It is important that the Aboriginal people be provided with the opportunity
and space to express themselves and their cultures by becoming the teachers of their own
cultures and valued. When positioned on the cultural competence continuum and having to or
wanting to engage with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, it is important to keep
in mind that the views they share must be interpreted and without any distortion (Summerville
and Hokanson, 2019). Another important thing to remember is to be respectful when
approaching the families. Understanding and respecting time is also important when approaching
Aboriginal people because for them, time should be flexible. Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people perceive time differently as in they do not see time as an arrow where they have

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DESCRIBING INDIGENOUS CULTURE FROM BROFENBRENNER’S MODEL
to go. They believe in investing time with family and community. It has to be remembered while
setting up a meeting with the Aboriginal people that they could change the arrangement without
notice in order to address an emergency situation such as “sorry business” including funeral,
death of a close one or mourning period (Summerville and Hokanson, 2019).
As McCabe et al. (2016) found in the study concerning the health of Aboriginal men
using Brofenbrenner’s ecological model, the “role of community activities and programs as
being overarching and shaped each of the other systems”. This related most closely to the
exosystem. The results further revealed that the role of the Indigenous man as a leader came next
followed by the negative influence of racism and discrimination, fitting best with macrosystem.
While considering the development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, keeping
these findings in mind would be crucial. Smith et al. (2017) evaluated the KidsMatter initiative
and outlined the resources used to support the emotional and social wellbeing of Aboriginal
children. They find that using the ecological model in supporting the Indigenous children helps
those involved with the initiative to understand the children in a better way. They state that the
model is effective because it “views the children as active participants in their own development,
both shaping and being shaped by the environment”. For the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children, the family and kinship systems are crucial for functioning in the society. With
this knowledge about these children, those who work or want to work towards the development
of the children could find support.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it needs to be reiterated that the ecological model proposed by
Brofenbrenner is an effective model to understand the development of Aboriginal and Torres

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DESCRIBING INDIGENOUS CULTURE FROM BROFENBRENNER’S MODEL
Strait Islander children. The essay used evidences that supported the thesis statement. It was
found that the Brofenbrenner’s model could be used to understand effectively the attitudes,
ideologies of the Indigenous culture along with the influence of family and friends, social and
legal services available. In addition to this, the essay was able to identify the role played by those
who contribute to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s development.

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References:
Cyc-net.org. (2019). The vision of Urie Bronfenbrenner: Adults who are crazy about kids.
Retrieved 27 August 2019, from https://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cyconline-nov2010-
brendtro.html
McCabe, M. P., Mellor, D., Ricciardelli, L. A., Mussap, A. J., & Hallford, D. J. (2016).
Ecological model of Australian indigenous men’s health. American journal of men's
health, 10(6), NP63-NP70.
Painaustralia.org.au. (2019). 8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning Factsheet. Retrieved 27
August 2019, from https://www.painaustralia.org.au/static/uploads/files/8-aboriginal-
ways-of-learning-factsheet2-wfklwmnralub.pdf
Reconciliationsa.org.au. (2019). 55000 years and counting: celebrating our shared history.
Retrieved 27 August 2019, from
https://www.reconciliationsa.org.au/assets/media/files/Education%20Packs/
55_000_Years_and_Counting.pdf
Smith, S., O'Grady, L., Cubillo, C., & Cavanagh, S. (2017). Using culturally appropriate
approaches to the development of KidsMatter resources to support the social and
emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal children. Australian Psychologist, 52(4), 299-305.
Summerville, J. and Hokanson, J. (2019). Cultural Perspectives on Learning: Building the
foundations for working with Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children and families..
from Childaustralia.org.au. Available at:

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DESCRIBING INDIGENOUS CULTURE FROM BROFENBRENNER’S MODEL
https://childaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Cultural-Perspectives-on-
Learning_compressed_Jan2014.pdf