Theme 1 – An Ecosystemic Perspective
What is Educational Psychology?
- Tries to answer fundamental questions in the educational environment, of which there could
be basic questions of readiness vs. more complex questions of learner relationships in the
educational environment
- Goal = to understand and to improve the teaching and learning processes in everyday life
- The study of cognitive (thinking), affective (feeling) and behavioural (reactions) perspectives
allows researchers to understand individual differences in:
• Intelligence • Motivation
• Cognitive development • Self-regulation
• Affect • Self-concept
What is development?
- Process of growing, transforming, maturation and sophistication
- Delicate process of unlocking potential
- The interaction with the environment does the “shaping”
- Development of a child is a continuous process
- It is useful to divide it into stages, using characteristics and skills which most individuals
develop during each specific stage
Nature vs. Nurture Article
- Nature: genetic factors = heredity
- Nurture: Environmental influences (Social, societal, cultural)
- Culture: Beliefs, norms, customs and general way of life to specific groups of people, passed
on from generation (e.g. parenting and what is encouraged, or simulated)
- Context: Setting or specific environment in which development and behaviour occur
• Your own behaviour and identity that is unique, how you manage failure, your world
view, specific skills, etc.
- Biological programming: Emphasising the role of heredity (genes), nervous system (brain) and
endocrine system (hormones)
• Some kinds of learning occur only at certain stages (critical periods) like clinging,
crying, gasping
- Examples of critical periods:
• Normal visual experience is critical within the first few months of life for the vision
processing part of the brain to develop properly
• The first trimester of pregnancy is a critical period of prenatal development, within
which organ formation, cell differentiation and tissue specialisation is taking place
Ecological Concepts
- Ecological theory is based on the interdependence between different organisms and their
physical environment
• Relationship = holistic: Every part is as important as another in sustaining cycles of
birth and death, which together ensure the survival of the whole system
• System can easily be disturbed
• Things that happen in one part of the system can affect other parts, and ultimately
the ecological system as a whole
- When the cycles and relationships within the system are in balance, the system can be
sustained
,Systems Thinking
- Developing our understanding of families, classrooms and schools: systems with which we are
directly concerned
- This perspective views different levels and groups of people as interactive systems where the
functioning of the whole is dependent on the interaction between all parts
- Processes and elements that characterise human systems:
Interdependence Change in one component of a system is understood to influence other
components
System and subsystem Whole systems can interact with other systems around them; like a
interaction family interacts with other families
Within the system there are usually subsystems of specific groups that
interact with one another and affect the whole system
Pattern of functioning All parts of a system affect the system as a whole, and because of this,
people in human systems interact with one another in characteristic
ways or patterns of functioning
A family will all respond to tension in their own characteristic way
Cycles of cause and Because of the interrelationship between the parts, an action in one part
effect of a system does not cause an action in another part in a simple, one-
directional way, but rather in cycles
Goals and values Both stated and hidden goals and values of the system influence and are
influenced by the system as a whole, and interaction with other systems
Communication Patterns of communication take place between subsystems, as well as
patterns between the system as a whole and those outside.
How clearly and directly these elements communicate is NB in their
functioning and interaction; e.g. communication between parents and
kids, as subsystems, may be unclear or indirect which may create
tensions between them
Roles within the system Common roles may be as parent, child, income earner, nurturer, peace-
maker, problem-solver, blame-taker, etc. but these roles may contradict
one another where a child is expected to play the role of a parent
Boundaries How rigid (closed) or flexible (open) they are affects the system’s
functioning
Time and development All human systems change and develop over time, and developmental
changes in parts of the system influence the whole
Bronfenbrenner’s model of child development
- Bronfenbrenner has had a wide and significant influence in shaping our understanding of how
different levels of system in the social context interact in child development
- Proximal processes are the key factors in development
- Four interacting dimensions are central to this process:
• Person factors – temperament of a child or parent
• Process factors – forms of interaction that occur in a family
• Contexts – families, schools, or local communities
• Time – changes over time in the child or the environment
- Order of importance = process, person, context, time
,- Construct of process
• Various forms of proximal interactions or transactions that occur in families, schools,
peer groups and local communities
• Between mother and child, teacher and learner, child and a close friend
• These transactions are most important in shaping lasting aspects of development
• NOT independent of the person, context and time factors, which all influence the
process factors
• Proximal transaction is important in all situations, and is understood in relation to the
other factors
- Person factor could be a child’s level of motivation
- Context factor might relate to whether the school is in an advantaged or disadvantaged sector
of society
- Time Factor could be the continuity of his schooling, or whether it has been broken up by
frequent changes of schools
- Child development happens within four interrelated systems:
1. Microsystems
- Systems where kids are closely involved in proximal interactions with other familiar people
- Involves roles, relationships, and patterns of daily activities that shape aspects of cognitive,
social, emotional, moral, and spiritual development
2. Mesosystems
- A set of microsystems that continuously interact with one another
- E.g. a child not supported from her family may make her anxious and insecure, but interactions
with the neighbour, peer or teacher may, over time, change her sense of insecurity
- What some refer to as the “neighbourhood” or “local community”
3. Exosystems
- Other systems in which a child is not directly involved, but which may influence the people
who have proximal relationships with her in her microsystems
- E.g. A parent’s workplace, a brother’s peer group, or a teacher’s involvement in a local
community organisation
4. Macrosystem
- Dominant social and economic structures as well as values, beliefs, and practices that
influence all other social systems
- E.g. a cultural value may be obeying authority which will then influence the proximal
interactions in the child’s microsystems and, probably, her whole mesosystem too
- How the government distributes resources in society affects every level of system
- The wider community and the whole social system
5. Time
- Crucial role in understanding human development
- Microtime: What happens in the course of an interaction or activity
- Mesotime: Examining the consistency of interactions and activities
- Macrotime: Chronosystem; a historical perspective on individual development from one age
to the next
- Families and other systems in which developing children are involved always change and
develop themselves; these changes interact with child’s progressive stages of development
, 6. Chronosystem
- Developmental time affects the interactions between these systems, as well as their
influences on individual development
- Children’s own perceptions of their contexts are central to how they engage with them
- Influenced by the world-views, values, and practices of those in proximal relationships with
the child, and the child will perceive and engage with its social context in similar ways
- Not just the environment that influences the child, as children are active participants in their
own development
Levels of system related to the education process
- Learning may be influenced at the family level by a number of factors
• Resources of the family
• Language spoken in the family in relation to the language at school
• Values held by the family
• Degree of cognitive and emotional support a learners receives at home for learning
