A quarter of a century ago, having travelled and observed children in other countries such as Soviet Russia and in China, the American psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner first published his theory about the ways that the environments and societies in which children grow up influence their development.
He was critical of theories that did not take into account the 'time and place' elements which mean that children experience different childhoods in different communities and in different historical eras. Bronfenbrenner's idea is known as the 'ecological systems theory' because it attempts to include aspects of the contexts in which humans grow up, the cultures and meanings people share, the policies and attitudes that impact on children and how the children themselves actively deal with their experiences. It is also a theory that acknowledges that nothing stays the same - neither the humans themselves, nor the settings in which they live.
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