How Interacting Systems and Bi-Directional Relations Assist a Human in Achieving His Potential - Essay Example

TOPIC: A Description of how the Interacting Systems and Bi-directional relations have assisted me to Achieve my Potential to Date (NAME) (COURSE NAME) (COURSE TITLE) 1ST MAY, 2009 Every person has a great potential to fulfill that is inborn however the extent of this potential is unknown. This unknown potential in the child may not be archived if the child is not helped by those around him/her to realize it. At every life stage the potential to achieve that is unrealized is evident. The person has a unique biology and a unique means of interacting with their ecology and through their biology and the interactions with their ecology potential is realized into human development (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Using my life experience and Bronfenbrenner’s model, this paper describes how the interacting systems and bi-directional relations have assisted me in achieving my potential to date. The paper start by a description of the Bronfenbrenner’s model and the illustration of how the model has applied in my life is given. These include how I have made achievements in my education, career development, realizing my talents and helping me to become a responsible person. One of the best known models of human development is that of Urie Bronfenbrenner. According to this model, development is a product of a continuous interaction between the children, the characteristics of the people within the child’s immediate environment, and the broader social context in which the child and his/her family live. In the model, the child is surrounded by interacting systems. The first system is the child’s immediate environment. The second system is the social and economic context in which the child is located. And the third and outermost system is the cultural context in which the child is found. There is back-and-forth interaction between these systems. While the child starts with his/her genetic endowment, how he/she develops depends on the way in which he/she interacts with the people around and the systems of his/her ecology (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). Bronfenbrenner further classified the above mentioned three systems into four systems namely micro-system, mesosystem, exo-system, and macro-system. The micro-system involves a bi-directional relation of child and those closes to him/her such as the family or classroom environment; mesosystem is a bi-directional relation of two micro-systems; exo-system involves the external environments which indirectly influence the child development; and the macro-system involves the larger socio-cultural context. Bronfenbrenner later added a fifth system, which he called the chrono-system and this involves the evolution of the external systems with time. According to Bronfenbrenner this systems contain roles, norms and rules that powerfully shape child development (Lerner, 2002). The micro-system is the system closest to the child. It contains the relationships which the child has directly. The micro-system encompasses the relationships and interactions a child has with his/her immediate surroundings. In my life the structures where these relationships occur include my family, school, and our neighborhood. At the micro-system, bi-directional influences have been the strongest and have greatly assisted me in achieving my potential to date. For example in choosing my career my mother played a big role in terms of her advices. My parents gave me information on various careers and it is from this many option that I was able to make a choice. My classmates and the teachers also influenced the choice of the career that I made. This influence in my career by those closes to me is what Bronfenbrenner calls micro-system in his model (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Mesosystem is where bi-directional interactions or relationships connecting two or more micro-systems take place. This system concerns the connection between the people of the child’s micro-system. For examples the good relationship between my farther and my mother has helped me to learn how to bring up a good family. This influence that helped me become responsible is what Bronfenbrenner calls meso-system in his model (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Exo-system is the larger social system in which the child does not function directly. The structures in this system impact the child’s development by interacting with some structure in the micro-system. The child does not have active relationships in this system. For example I realized that I have a talent in sing after listening to music that was played in the radio. I would memorize these songs and sing them later to my friend. Today I have been able to compose my own songs. This influence by mass media that helped me realize my talent of sing is what Bronfenbrenner calls exo-system in his model (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Macro-system is the outer system of ecology involving cultural context in which we live. It involves those aspects of humanity that are passed on from one generation to the next. It include the culture in which individual lives and cultural strengths within the community like the behavior patterns, beliefs, ideals passed from generation to generation. For example our country is a capitalist one where people are free to work hard and make investments to become as rich as they want. This has made me to develop a business mind and I now own some small business of my own even if I am still in school. This influence that has helped me develop a business mind is what Bronfenbrenner calls macro-system in his model (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Chrono-system can be described as the dimension of time on development. It involves the changes over time in all systems like employment changes, family changes, and historical influence on the perceptions of the nation. It has been proved through research discoveries that genetic influences, as they apply to individual differences in the liability to show particular behaviors, are strong and pervasive but rarely determinative. This is the interactions of nature, nurture, and developmental influences. This system encompasses the dimension of time as it relates to a child’s environments. Elements within this system can be either external or internal. For example the death of my elder brother when I was 12 years made be to bear the responsibilities of the eldest child in our family a something that I had not been prepared for. How ever this has assisted me in achieving my potential as I have grown to become a responsible person now. This influence this influence by the death of my brother that made me develop a sense of responsibility is what Bronfenbrenner calls chrono-system in his model (Harm, 2005). The debate of nature versus nurture which is used to describe differences in child development is still being used today even if after having being developed along time ago. The debate is, whether genetic factors which can be described as nature or environmental factors which can be described as nurture are more important in determining child development. Nature refers to biological or hereditary information that affects child development and learning. Nurture refers to the day to day interactions children encounter in their environment. Bio-ecological theory combines the evidence we know from research on both nature which is biology and nurture which is ecology (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Bronfenbrenner in relation to nature said. “To those who view the person as a sum of their parts look up and see the whole picture”. In relation to nurture he said. “To the people who see the system independent to the person look down and see the impact on the relationships of people”. To achieve my potential I have been looking at the part of a life I am best at. This is what I used in helping me to decide what course I would study to help develop my career in the area that I am best at. Therefore by breaking down myself into the areas I am best at I have been able to increase my potential in developing my career (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). But in choosing my career the nurture which included the external environment like my parents also played a big role in terms of their advices. My parents gave me information on various careers and it is from this many option that I was able to make a choice. My classmates and the teachers also influenced the choice of the career that I made. This influence in my career by those closes to me is what Bronfenbrenner calls micro-system in his model (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Bronfenbrenner in his model says that, “where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die”. Bronfenbrenner by saying this means that everyone is entitled to the same opportunities to thrive and reach their potential no matter who they are or where they live. For example I was borne in a poor family but that has not prevented me from achieving my dream of becoming educated and now I am in University continuing well with my education. Bronfenbrenner in the micro-system in his model show that parents have influence in child development and my parent though poor encouraged me to work hard in my study. I can say the poor state of my parents also provoked me to work hard in my study so that I would not be poor like them and also so that I would be able to provide for our family. Therefore it is about the function not structure and all children can develop to full potential irrespective of their family background. This is true for those who are raising their children in poverty or a war zones not of their making or concern as much as it is for those raising their children in wealth where the child gets everything they want (Barnes and Rowe, 2007). Bronfenbrenner’s model has had widespread influence on the way psychologists and other social scientists now approach the study of human beings and their surroundings. This is because before Bronfenbrenner came up with his model, child psychologists studied the child development, sociologists examined the family unit, anthropologists studied the society, economists studied the economy, and political scientists studied the political structure (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). As a result of Bronfenbrenner's model all of the above mentioned disciplines have come to be viewed as integrated systems representing human development from childhood through adulthood. This approach to human development broke the barriers among the social scientists. It also helped to unite the disciplines which have allowed findings to emerge about the key elements that are vital for optimal human development. Using the Bronfenbrenner's model that units all disciplines I have been able to show how this discipline relate to my life and how they have helped me to achieve my potential to date. This started with my family who helped me achieve in my education and become responsible to the policies in our capitalist country that have helped me start some business (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). References Barnes, M. and Rowe J. (eds), (2007). Child Youth & Family Health: Strengthening Communities. (Sydney, Churchill Livingstone). Bronfenbrenner, U (ed) (2005). Making Human Being Human: Bioecological perspectives on human development, (Sage, USA). Bronfenbrenner U. and Ceci S.J. (1994) Nature-nurture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: A bio-ecological model. Psychological Review, Vol 101, pp 568-586. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. (Cambridge, Harvard University Press). Harm, L. (2005). Understanding Human Development. (South Melbourne, Oxford University Press). Lerner R. (2002). Concepts and theories of human development. (London, LEA), pp 238-241. Read More