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Explore the life of Urie Bronfenbrenner, his family, education, and his career. See Bronfenbrenner's theory of child development and ecological systems theory.Updated: 11/21/2023
Table of Contents
- Urie Bronfenbrenner
- Urie Bronfenbrenner's Theory of Childhood Development
- Legacy of Bronfenbrenner
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Urie Bronfenbrenner's most important ideas?
Urie Bronfenbrenner's most important and impactful ideas are that a human's development is shaped by the interaction between an individual and their environment. His first model, the ecological systems theory, focused strongly on childhood development. Later on, he recognized that development is a lifelong process and developed the bioecological theory that speaks to how time impacts a person's development.
What are the four levels of Bronfenbrenner's ecological model?
The individual is the center of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. There are four nested levels that surround the individual. These are the microsystem, the mesosystem, the ecosystem, and the macrosystem.
What is Bronfenbrenner known for?
Bronfenbrenner is best known for his groundbreaking research on human development. He developed the ecological systems theory early in his career and later expanded it to the biological model. Due to his seminal work on child development, in 1964, he was invited to participate in the government's efforts to create programs addressing childhood poverty. Bronfenbrenner helped found the Head Start program.
Table of Contents
- Urie Bronfenbrenner
- Urie Bronfenbrenner's Theory of Childhood Development
- Legacy of Bronfenbrenner
- Lesson Summary
Urie Bronfenbrenner was a Russian-born American psychologist who conducted seminal research in childhood development. He is credited with the development of the ecological systems theory.
Bronfenbrenner was born in Moscow on April 29, 1917. At the age of six, he and his family moved to the United States, settling in upstate New York. His father, Alexander Bronfenbrenner, worked as a neuropsychologist providing care to developmentally disabled persons, which had a large impact on Urie's choice of profession.
Bronfenbrenner earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from Cornell University in 1938. In 1940, he earned a master's in education, and he was awarded a doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Michigan in 1942. Upon completion of his doctoral degree, he enlisted in the U.S. military, serving as a psychologist in several military units during World War II. After the war, he held various psychology-related positions until landing at Cornell University in the Department of Human Development as an assistant professor. There he began his lifelong research on child development. He remained on the faculty of Cornell University for the rest of his professional career. Bronfenbrenner died on September 25, 2005, at the age of 88. At his death, he was the Jacob Gould Schurman professor emeritus of Human Development and Psychology at Cornell.
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Bronfenbrenner's theory of child development is the belief that human development is shaped by the interaction of an individual with their environment. At the core of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory is the individual. Surrounding the individual are four nested systems, each contained within the other, whose interactions with the individual and each other impact the child's development. Bronfenbrenner organized these systems in the order that each affects the child.
The following are the systems of the ecological theory.
- The microsystem is the first level and represents the things that interact directly with the child in their present environment. The members in this system are commonly parents, siblings, teachers, and peers. Relationships within this system are "two-way," since the child can be influenced by its members and the child can also influence these members.
- The mesosystem is the level surrounding the microsystem and represents the interactions between the members of the child's microsystem, such as a parent's relationship with a child's teacher, or parents' relationships with each other. If these interactions are mostly positive, they should have a positive impact on a child's development. The reverse is also true, in that negative relationships between members of the child's microsystem can have a detrimental impact on a child's development.
- The exosystem is the next level and is represented by the formal and informal social structures that do not directly impact the child, but indirectly influence the child because they influence a member of the child's microsystem. A parent's work relationships are a great example of these indirectly impactful relationships. A parent with consistently contentious interactions at work might bring that negativity home, which could affect how the parent interacts with the child.
- The macrosystem surrounds all the systems noted above and represents cultural elements that affect a child's development. These system elements often do not directly impact the child, but they may well shape the child's beliefs and perceptions about events in their life. Examples of macrosystem elements are socioeconomic status, ethnicity, geographical location, and cultural ideology.
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Bronfenbrenner had a deep and lasting impact in the field of childhood development.
- In the mid-1960s, Bronfenbrenner testified before Congress on the impact of poverty on childhood development. His developmental theories were groundbreaking, as they spoke to the impact of the environment, as well as biology, on how a child develops. He was invited to work with twelve other professionals to develop an intervention program addressing childhood poverty. This panel's work led to the formation of the Head Start program in 1965. Head Start is a federal program for low-income children and their families. Bronfenbrenner is often referred to as the Father of Head Start. The Head Start program exists to this day and serves over one million children annually.
- The ecological systems theory was groundbreaking in that it recognized that "interpersonal relationships do not exist in a social vacuum, but were embedded in the larger social structures of community, society, economics, and politics." Bronfenbrenner was able to push developmental research to consider environmental impacts on a child.
- The bioecological model theory represents a further development of Bronfenbrenner's original ecological systems theory. It was published in 1994 and adds an additional system, the chronosystem, to the original model. This additional system recognizes the impact of time upon a person's development and that development is a lifelong process.
In addition to being an active educator and researcher throughout his life, he was also a prolific writer. He is credited with publishing many scholarly articles and books. His most influential books are Two Worlds of Childhood: US and USSR, The State of Americans, The Ecology of Human Development, and Making Human Beings Human.
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Urie Bronfenbrenner was a Russian-born American psychologist who conducted groundbreaking research about how a child's biology and environment impact their development. He spent almost the entirety of his professional career at Cornel University.
Bronfenbrenner's research into the impact of the environment on a child's development led to the formation of the ecological systems theory. The individual is at the core of the ecological systems theory. Surrounding the individual are four nested systems that have both direct and indirect impacts upon the child. Working outward from the core, the systems are the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem , and the macrosystem. In the mid-1990s, Bronfenbrenner expanded his ecological system theory by adding a fifth system, the chronosystem. This enhanced theory is called the bioecological system theory.
Bronfenbrenner had a significant impact on the government's response to childhood poverty by advocating for and helping to establish the Head Start program, which is still a robust program today serving over one million children annually.
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Video Transcript
Biography and Background
Urie Bronfenbrenner was a Russian-American psychologist known for developing the ecological systems theory. He was born in 1917 in Moscow and died at 88 years old in 2005, having spent most of his life in the United States.
His father worked as a clinical pathologist at the New York State Institution for the mentally retarded, which very likely impacted Bronfenbrenner's career choice and philosophical beliefs. Urie went to Cornell for his undergraduate degree in psychology and music, and then went on to Harvard for his Master of Arts. Later, he earned a PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Michigan.
Bronfenbrenner also served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. In 1948, he accepted a professorship in Human Development, Family Studies, and Psychology at Cornell University. Bronfenbrenner is also the co-founder of the popular Head Start program for disadvantaged pre-school children.
Ecological Systems Theory
Urie Bronfenbrenner was a pioneer in examining the family, economy, and political structures as influences upon the development of a child into adulthood. His greatest contribution to the field of developmental psychology was the ecological systems theory. At the core of this theory are four systems that shape a child's development: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the macrosystem.
Bronfenbrenner recognized that children do not develop in a vacuum. There are many institutions and agencies that surround the child and affect his or her development. At the heart of this ecological systems theory is the individual.
- The microsystem is those things in the immediate environment surrounding the individual, such as the family, the classroom, daycare, peers, etc.
- The mesosystem is the interaction between two microsystems, such as a mother interacting with a child's teacher.
- The exosystem is the environment that the individual isn't directly involved with but still impacts him/her anyway, such as a parent's workplace. Even though the child doesn't work there, if mom has to work overtime, that impacts the child's life.
- Finally, the macrosystem is the larger cultural context, such as attitudes and social conditions within the culture where the child is located. For example, a child growing up in a poor neighborhood will have a different upbringing than a child who grows up in a wealthy neighborhood.
According to Bronfenbrenner, the interactions between these overlapping ecosystems affect a person significantly. He further argued that understanding how these systems interact is the key to understanding how a child develops and what factors lead to any failures in the child's development.
Lesson Summary
Urie Bronfenbrenner was particularly interested in how various systems surrounding a child impact the development of that child. His biggest contribution to developmental psychology is the ecological systems theory. Bronfenbrenner identified four systems:
- The microsystem is the immediate environment that surrounds a child, such as the family and peer group.
- The mesosystem is when two microsystems interact, such as a child's home and school.
- The exosystem is an environment that the individual isn't directly involved with but affects the child anyway, such as a parent's workplace.
- The macrosystem is the larger cultural context.
Urie Bronfenbrenner & Ecological Systems Theory Overview
| Terms | Explanations |
|---|---|
| Urie Bronfenbrenner | a Russian-American psychologist known for the ecological systems theory |
| Ecological systems theory | family, economy, and political structures as influences upon the development of a child into adulthood; the core of this theory are four systems that shape a child's development: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the macrosystem |
| Microsystem | the immediate environment surrounding the individual, such as the family, the classroom, daycare, peers, etc. |
| Mesosystem | the interaction between two microsystems, such as a mother interacting with a child's teacher |
| Exosystem | the environment that the individual isn't directly involved with but which still impacts him/her anyway, such as a parent's workplace |
| Macrosystem | the larger cultural context, such as attitudes and social conditions within the culture in which the child is located |
Learning Outcomes
As the lesson ends, you might declare yourself ready to:
- Provide biographical details about Urie Bronfenbrenner
- Outline his theory of ecological systems
- Enumerate the four systems
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