Here's a short summary of Bronfenbrenner.  It's interesting to me how the systems can both directly influence a child's development, but also the systems interacting with each other can itself be an influence on development.  It's also quite interesting how a child's development is solidified when concepts are carried over to other settings.  We see this in school all the time.  If a child's parents value education, we see that impact the child's success in school.  When there is a serious student disciplinary matter, we often will hold a parent meeting.  Part of this meeting is to establish shared expectations and make sure that the student sees the school and their parents expressing the same message.  In my experience, these parent meetings have some of the highest impact on positive behavior.  I guess this serves as some anecdotal support for Bronfenbrenner.

Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory provides working definitions for the purposes of research, and describes how a child’s environment influences their development.  A child develops within a system of environmental impacts that can be thought of as emanating out like concentric rings. Bronfenbrenner describes these concentric rings as being like Russian dolls, with a smaller doll being discovered inside of each larger doll.  (Bronfenbrenner, 1996, p. 3)  These different levels represent environmental influences that have broader and broader impacts on a developing child and are described as the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. (Bronfenbrenner, 1996, pp. 21–26)

The microsystem is comprised of the interpersonal relationships within a setting. This is the setting that is most apparent to the child. At home, the microsystem exists between the child, parents, and siblings.  At school, the microsystem is the classroom relationships between the child, teacher, and the other students. (Bronfenbrenner, 1996, p. 22)

The mesosystem is the relationship between multiple settings that a child lives within. The mesosystem recognizes that a child travels between settings and that there are ways in which each setting influences the other settings.  A child, for instance, might have a birthday party planned at home, but the excitement and dynamics of planning the event and inviting guests will influence the school setting. (Bronfenbrenner, 1996, p. 25)

The exosystem are the larger settings which the child doesn’t inhabit, but nevertheless these systems affect the mesosystem and microsystem.  For a child, this might include extended family, the school board, the police department, the fire department, the hospital, and other healthcare services. (Bronfenbrenner, 1996, p. 25)

The macrosystem is the subculture or common culture that underlies all of the different systems. This might include the governing laws of the region, culture, common values, and religious values. (Bronfenbrenner, 1996, p. 26)

The child is at the center of these systems, and learns and grows with all of these systems interacting with each other and interacting with the child, and a child’s development is solidified when conceptions are carried over to other settings.  (Bronfenbrenner, 1996, p. 35)

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1996). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.