Urie Bronfenbrenner: Develocological Terms & Concepts
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model is discussed in many HDFS courses. There are specific terms and concepts which are used in assignments that require the use of the vocabulary to support your arguments. Here is a selection of basic terms and concepts that will help a writer understand Bronfenbrenner’s work more effectively:
Develecology: “The study of the processes of development of organisms and their relations with their environments, employing a combination of systemic and longitudinal perspectives that include the mutual and reciprocal analysis is change in both the context and the organism.”
A keyword here is “change”. Writing in HDFS revolves around the gradual transformations we undergo as a result of our interactions with other people and our environment.
A molar activity is one that is “an ongoing behavior possessing a momentum of its own and perceived as having meaning or intent by the participants in the setting.” For example: Learning is a molar activity only if it is ongoing, has personal meaning for the student, and grows increasingly more complex in nature.
A dyad is formed when “two or more persons pay attention to or participate in one another’s activities.” There are three main types of dyads:
- Observational – At least one person is observing another’s activities.
- Joint activity – Two people participate in an activity together.
- Primary – The relationship (i.e. Dyad) continues to exist for both people, even when they are not together.
- Example: An observational dyad would occur while a student observes another student taking part in an intramural sport. A joint activity dyad would occur if both students are playing the intramural sport together. A primary dyad would occur when both students who play the sport together think about each other when they are in different settings and with different people.
There are three main components that exist in a dyad, and determine the nature of the relation. These are:
- Affect – The feelings and emotional tone. It is typically referred to as either a positive or negative effect.
- Power – The strength each person holds in the relation, in regard to each other. It is typically referred to as balanced or unbalanced.
- Reciprocity – The mutual influence of each person on the other person, activities, and interactions. It is typically referred to as equal or unequal.
The developing person’s world consists of different systems, where each one contributes to the individual’s development and interacts with other systems.
- Macrosystem – “the overarching pattern of characteristics within a particular culture, including belief systems, customs, lifestyles, etc.”
- Mesosystem – part of the macrosystem, “the linkages and processes taking place between two or more settings containing the developing person”. In other words: All your settings and the connections that exist between them.
- Microsystem – part of the mesosystem, “a pattern of activities, roles, and interpersonal relations in a given setting with particular physical and material characteristics.” Example: Your English classroom.
- Exosystem – part of the macrosystem, “one or more settings that do not involve the developing person as an active participant but in which events occur that affect, or are effected by, what happens in the setting containing the developing person.” Example: Your parent’s workplace.
- Mesosystem – part of the macrosystem, “the linkages and processes taking place between two or more settings containing the developing person”. In other words: All your settings and the connections that exist between them.
- Chronosystem – “the change or consistency of the different elements of the ecosystem over time”
Other terms that may be used to discuss the elements above, but are not just referred to in regard to Bronfenbrenner: role, setting, environment, transaction, relation, links.