how is a child's development affected by their social relationships and the world around them ecological systems theory provides one approach to answering this question the ecological systems theory was developed by Yuri bronen burner bronen burner believed that a person's development was affected by everything in their surrounding environment he divided the person's environment into five different levels the microsystem system the meso system the exosystem the macro system and the Chronos system in this lesson you will learn about these different environmental levels by meeting 5-year-old Alex and examining the influences in his life we will begin with the first level of bronen brers theory the micro system the micro system is the system closest to the person and the one in which they have direct contact some examples would be home school daycare or work a micr system typically includes family peers or caregivers relationships in a micr system are B directional in other words your reactions to the people in your microsystem will affect how they treat you in return this is the most influential level of the ecological systems theory let's look at the microsystem Alex flowes in the first part of his microsystem is his home environment this includes his interaction with his parents and little sister Alex's school is also a part of this micr system his regular school interactions are with his kindergarten teacher and the other children in his class the next level of ecological systems theory is the mesosystem the mesosystem consists of the interactions between the different parts of a person's microsystem the meso system is where a person's individual Microsystems do not function independently but are interconnected and a certain influence upon one another these these interactions have an indirect impact on the individual one aspect of Alex's mesosystem would be the relationship between his parents and his teacher his parents take an active role in his school such as attending parent teacher conferences and volunteering in the classroom this has a positive impact on his development because the different elements of his microsystem are working together Alex's development could be affected in a negative way if the different elements of his microsystem were working against one another the exo system is the next level we will examine the exo system refers to a setting that does not involve the person as an active participant but still affects them this includes decisions that have bearing on the person but in which they have no participation in the decision-making process an example would be a child being affected by a parent receiving a promotion at work or losing their job one part of Alex's excess system would be his father's workplace Alex's father is in the mayy this often takes him away from the family and Alex sometimes does not see his father for months at a time this situation impacts Alex and he becomes anxious when his father leaves Alex's anxiety has an effect on his development in other areas even though he has no interaction with his father's work or say in the decision-making process the fourth level of ecological systems theory is the macro system the macro system encompasses the cultural environment in which the person lives and all other systems that affect them examples can include the economy cultural values and political systems the macro system can have either a positive or A negative effect on the person's development for an example consider the different effects of the development of a child growing up in a third world economy versus that of the United States an important aspect of Alex's macro system is the fact that he is a military child because of this he has already moved moved three times and lived in two different countries by the age of five Alex is also influenced by the values of the military community that he belongs to the Chronos system is the final level in ecological systems theory the Chronos system is the dimension of time in relation to a person's development time can be relevant in different ways One Way time can be an influence is the timing of an event during a person's development for example the death of a parent would affect a three-year-old differently than a teenager time can also be an influence because of historical events or conditions that exist during a person's life an example would be the effects of growing up during the Great Depression or during World War II technology is one important part of Alex's Chronos system Alex has grown up using a computer and playing video games he even received his own iPad as a Christmas present this could have a developmental impact on his learning style and social skills Alex is experience with technology is also very different from that of a child growing up 20 years earlier ecological systems theory was developed by Yuri brunen burer he divided the environment into five different levels the micro system is the most influential has the closest relationship to the person and is the one where direct contact occurs the mesos system consists of interactions between a person's Micro Systems the exosystem affects a person indirectly without their direct involvement the macro system includes all other systems and the societal culture surrounding a person finally the Chronos system refers to the dimension of time and can be divided into two parts the importance of the timing of an event during a person's development or events that are unique to a particular generation each of these levels includes systems that influence the development of an individual in some way