The promise and the practice of early childhood educare in the writings of Urie Bronfenbrenner

ABSTRACT

Urie Bronfenbrenner is almost certainly best known for his theoretical writings about the ecology of human development. His interest in theory was not, however, separate from his practical concerns, particularly those related to early education and care of children and the families and teachers who interact with them. From the role that he played in the development of Head Start in the United States to his final publications, we show that his theory, as it developed over the course of three phases, was both influenced by and an influencer of his practical concerns.

KEYWORDS:

• Bronfenbrenner
• theory
• public policy
• early childhood education
• community

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 His book, Making human beings human, was published in 2005, the year of his death, but this was a collection of some of his earlier writings. There was also a chapter published the year following his death (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), but this was a republication of their earlier chapter (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) with the addition of parts of his final encyclopedia entry (Bronfenbrenner, 2001).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jonathan R. H. Tudge

Jonathan R. H. Tudge has degrees in History (Lancaster), Sociology (Oxford), and Developmental Psychology (Cornell) and is currently a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Among his books are The Everyday Lives of Young Children: Culture, Class, and Childrearing in Diverse Societies (Cambridge University Press, 2008) and The Development of Gratitude in Children and Adolescents, co-edited with Lia Freitas (Cambridge University Press, 2018). He has also written quite widely on Bronfenbrenner's theory.

Jessica L. Navarro

Jessica L. Navarro completed her MSW at Washington University in St. Louis and her MS in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she is currently a doctoral student. Her research interests center on families and technology, in particular, the impact of technology on the parent-child relationship. She is also interested in character development, as well as Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory of human development.

Elisa A. Merçon-Vargas

Elisa A. Merçon-Vargas completed her Master's degree in Psychology at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Brazil) and her doctoral degree in Human Development and Family studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at UNCG. Her research interests include the development of gratitude, ethnic minorities and cultural diversity, children and adolescents in vulnerable situations, and parental socialization.

Ayse Payir

Ayse Payir completed her PhD in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with her work on the development of counterfactual thinking-based emotions and social judgments while she was also studying the development of gratitude across different cultures. Upon completing her PhD, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Boston University exploring children's developing conceptualization of the invisible and the impossible. Currently she is a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University studying children's and adults intuitions about God's moral beliefs.