Quote of the Week

Bronfenbrenner was the founding father of the Ecological Theory for Child Development. He viewed children's behaviour as the sum of all relationships/interactions and unseen circumstances of the child's environment (ecology) . 

What is Ecological Theory? 
 "The immediate environments of family, school, peers, and neighborhood as a child’s microsystem. The interconnection of these environments is the mesosystem. Surrounding these spheres were increasingly broader circles of community influence called the exosytem, and, finally the cultural and societal forces of the macrosystem. In designing restorative interventions for individual children, the focus is usually on relationships in the microsytem and mesosystem. Research suggests that the more immediate the system, the greater its impact on development. Thus, while poverty can be a negative force in development, the immediate forces in a particular child’s family school, peer group, and neighborhood exert greatest influence."
Brendtro, L.K. (2006). The vision of Urie Bronfenbrenner: Adults who are crazy about kids. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 15, 3. pp. 162-166.