Ecological Map By Jesica Mc Hugh Virtual Child

Ecological Map By Jesica Mc. Hugh

Virtual Child. n My virtual child is a young boy aged 9 yrs old from an Aboriginal background. He is from a family of 4 children and he is the eldest child. He also comes from a low income family where his mother doesn’t work but the father works part time. He lives in the local Blacktown area where a lot of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders connections and groups. He is very active enjoys sports and has a healthy lifestyle with no illness. He is well behaved, works well at school with good grades, has no language barriers and can speak some Aboriginal native language. He has values and beliefs based on his culture and church he attends weekly with the family.

The Individual The individual Sex: Male Age: 9 yrs old SES: low income Health: Healthy lifestyle with no illness

The Mircosystem The individual The Mircosystem School Church group Neighbours Family Peers

The Microsystem n n n This system of Brofenbrenner’s model is based on the direct contact settings with the individual. The main contacts are family, school, childcare, health services, church and neighbourhood groups. Between the Microsystem and the individual there impact of bi-directional relationship, both towards and away from the individual. (C. Dennis, Lecture 2, March 2 nd, 2009) This system has a major impact and influence on the Childs development in all areas including physical, social, cognitive, emotional areas. In this area my virtual child has bi-directional contact with all areas listed in the pervious slide, which all have an influence on his life.

The Mesosystem The individual The Mircosystem The Mesosystem

The Mesosystem n This system of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological map consists of the interrelationships or the connections between both the Microsystem and Exosystem. Bowes and Grace (2009) noted that this part of the system refers to the degree of congruence or match between two settings in the Microsystem. Examples could be from the home to the school, home to the childcare centre or home from the church. This system is important as there needs to be connections and relationships between the family / individual and the Microsystem for the child to develop properly.

The Ecosystem The Individual The Microsystem Extended family The Mesosystem Friends of the family Aboriginal support services in the community The Ecosystem Parents workplace Local Blacktown community.

The Ecosystem n n The Ecosystem is the layer of the model that has no direct impact with the child. This system can have interaction with some of the structures of the individuals microsystem which then in turn can impact on the child. Examples as such are the Parents work can impact on the child as this is the service that is supplying the income into the household. This system is has bi-directional inputs from all systems which then follow down through to the individual.

The Macrosystem Society The Individual The Microsystem The Mesosystem The Ecosystem Culture The Macrosystem Mass Media Technology Global changes

The Macrosystem n n The Macrosystem is the outer most layer in the child’s environment and while it is not a specific frame work it is comprised of laws, values and beliefs that have a cascading influence throughout the interactions of all other layers to the individual. (C. Dennis, Lecture 2, March 2 nd, 2009) Global changes can occur in this system which will trickle down through each system and have impacts on all areas of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological system.

The Chronosystem The Individual The Microsystem The Mesosystem The Ecosystem The Macrosystem The Chronosystem Patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course. (Bowes and Grace, 2009)

The Chronosystem n n This part of the ecological map is the time dimension which is constantly changing through the individuals ecological map. This part as Bowes and Grace (2009) state “is important because it acknowledges that, just as individuals change over time, so too do contexts. Developmental and historical changes need to be taken into account in any model of the interrelationships between people and their context. ” (p. 10)

The Microsystem The Mesosystem Society Culture Extended Family The Ecosystem The Macrosystem Parents workplace The Chronosystem Neighbours Mass Media Peers Friends of the family Family Local Blacktown community Global changes Church group School Aboriginal support services Technology The Ecological Map

References n n Bowes, J. and Grace, R. (2009) Children families and communities. Contexts and consequences. Melbourne: Oxford university press. Dennis, C. Lecture 2, March 2 nd 2009.