Supporting Children’s Development Through Educational Work: A Bioecological Perspective

Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory sees the child as an active subject linked with a dynamic environment, and outlines three core elements of this inter-relationship: roles, relationships and molar activities. With reference to this, the developmental pattern of these elements within an educational context is examined. Roles, relationships and activities become the key factors of a scaled taxonomy which can be exploited in multiple ways: as a planning guide, as a tool for an initial assessment of a group or an individual, or as an instrument to evaluate the end results of a program. A number of examples linking development and education in school settings are also presented.