Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems- 5 Forces Impacting Our Lives

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems: 5 Forces Impacting Our Lives In 1964 most people thought that the reason people ended up poor was a matter of biology and had little to do with the environment they grew up in. Urie Bronfenbrenner, a young psychologist, helped us understand that a child’s environment also matters. When he was invented to explain his Ecological System Theory to the US congress, he made history.
CLASSROOM EXERCISE
Give each child a sheet of paper with Bronfenbrenner's 5 systems and let them draw the people and forces that affect their lives in each of the circles. Once they are done, let them explain the interrelationships between the different forces and how they affect their lives to a peer. Later you can ask your students what they know about poverty? Is it happening in your country and if so, how would a poor child’s 5 systems look different from theirs? You may even want to let your students simulate a congress and make an action plan to solve poverty in your country. Who knows, they might just make it come true one day ;).