There are 2 parts to this essay.
First:
- Think of only one age (between the ages of 5 and 16) in your childhood
- Use Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological approach to development (Chapter 1 in Lally & Valentine-Fench text), to place yourself in a fairly complete developmental context. Write about the following five systems. (label which level you are talking about when writing your essay):
Microsystem: >Describe:
- Your family at that time
- Your school and teacher at that time
- Your peer group at that time
- Your surrounding community at that time
Mesosystem: Describe:
- How your parents interacted with your peers at that time
- How your parents interacted with your school and teacher at that time
- Whether your parents helped with schoolwork at that time
- How your community supported your school or activities (e.g., sports)
Exosystem: Describe:
- Your parents’ jobs
- Vacations you took
- Whether there was a divorce in your family
Macrosystem: Describe:
- Your ethnic heritage
- Your religious affiliations
- Your social class (e.g., poor, working-class, middle-class, wealthy)
- What was going on in the world at the time (e.g. Vietnam War, who was president of the United States, destruction of the Berlin Wall, etc.)
Chronosystem: Describe:
- How did a single historical event or gradual historical changes going on at that time affect your development at that time. Look up events on the internet. (or if there was more than one single historical event write about each one) (for example: supreme court decisions, wars, economics, the change in the number of women who worked outside the home; a change in the types of jobs available; a change from having no television to having television). You may research this event.
Second:
- Using another developmental theory besides Bronfenbrenner’s, explain how the theory applies to you at that time in your childhood.