TAKE A LEARNER TO LUNCH

Abstract
This paper attempts to apply the theoretical frameworks of Erik Erikson and Urie
Bronfenbrenner by analyzing an interview with an 8th grade, female student, who attends
a public middle school in a middle-to-high class suburban city. In this paper, I break
down the five environmental systems in Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems Theory in
order to analyze each system in terms of the information I gathered from the student. I
point out the major institutions in her microsystem, the interconnections between them in
her mesosystem, the links in her social setting that affect her exosystem, the culture in
which she lives in her macrosystem, and finally, certain patterns that have affected her
throughout her chronosystem. I then analyzed how she fit into Eriksons theory on the
eight stages of human development to point out how she currently occupies the fifth
stage: Identity vs. Role Diffusion. It is at this stage where the adolescent begins to

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question his/her identity and look toward the future. Similarly, the student I interviewed
pointed out the role that her future college and career plans play in her life today.

Take a Learner to Lunch

I interviewed an 8th grade, female student at a public middle school in a middleto-high class suburban city. This student (who will be referred to as EK) comes from a
fortunate family. Her parents are married and both work honorable jobs. Her father is a
Supervision Consultant at a well-known financial firm and her mother is now a Principal
at a Catholic Academy, after serving 10 years as an Elementary School teacher. EK also
has a sister who is a sophomore in high school, whom she is very close with. Ive known
EK for nearly three years and had noticed that she didnt seem to enjoy school and
therefore rarely applied herself. However, this school year she is working much harder to
try to pull her grades up. I wanted to interview EK to find out how much her family, as
well as her other ecological systems, worked to support her schooling and what motivated
her to do better in school. I also wanted to apply Erik Eriksons framework on the
learning and development of an adolescent in my interview, since I am working towards
receiving my certification to teach 6th-12th grade.
Interview
Who gives you the most support with your homework?
I dont really ask that many questions on my homework but if I would have to say, I
would have to say probably my mom and my dad.
Was there a situation where a teacher helped you out a lot? Or was there ever a
time where you were struggling in school and a teacher helped you?

TAKE A LEARNER TO LUNCH

Well sometimes in Language Arts when were writing a paper my teacher will ask me
how its going and Ill tell him if I have a problem or not. So, I mean, he really cares
about our writing.
Can you describe a situation where you felt a teacher didnt care about you?
Well I have this feeling my Math teacher really hates me. Because Ill be listening in
class and stuff and shes always just- I dont know, just her body language and her
reactions with me, she just doesnt seem to really like me that much.
Are you doing well in that class?
Yeah, Im doing good in the class. I dont know why she doesnt like me.
Do you feel that all students are treated the same by your teachers?
No because some teachers like other students more than you. And youre just kind of
like, okay.
Do you think thats more performance-based or personality-based?
I would say probably more personality. Cause theres this one kid in my Math class
whos really obnoxious and my teacher hates him so much.
Do you feel that boys and girls get the same opportunities in school?
Yeah.
How do you resolve conflict between you and an adult, such as a teacher, parent,
etc.?
I usually just talk about it with my friends and try really hard not to talk to that teacher
very much.
Well what happens if its a fight with your mom?
I usually just go in my mom and not really talk to her until the next day.
Has your school ever had to call home?
Not for me. But for other kids in the school. Like, if theres drugs or something, theyll
call home and my parents will ask me, Oh are you okay, are you in any of this? And
Im just like, No. Id rather stay away from that.
So basically your parents interact with your teachers only at Parent-Teacher
conferences?
Yeah.
How do you handle difficult situations?
I usually try to stay away from all that. If theres problems with my friends going on Im
just like, You figure it out yourself.
What about situations with you? Have you ever gotten into a fight with a friend?
How did you resolve that?

TAKE A LEARNER TO LUNCH

Yeah. I mean, I just basically confronted her about it and talked with her about it.
Describe a class that you really enjoyed. Why did you enjoy it so much?
The past two years in Orchestra I really liked because of the teacher and how he
interacted with us and how he gave us all equal opportunities. And he was really fun. I
really liked him a lot.
Is Orchestra your favorite class in school?
Yeah.
Describe a class you hated.
I hate Math because Im not very good at it and all the teachers are really boring. I never
found it really interesting.
Other than Orchestra, what other classes do you like and do well in?
I really like Social Studies because my teachers really fun and shell let you do a lot of
hands-on activities and you get to work in groups with your friends and stuff.
What is your grade point average?
In the past I didnt do very good. I got like a 2.0 average but now this year Ive been
getting 3.0s and higher.
Other than Math, do you have other classes that you struggle in?
Language Arts is pretty hard for me, but its not that hard. I usually just ask my teachers
a lot of questions in that class.
What are some things that are fun for you? I know you play the Cello, but what
other hobbies do you have?
Well, I like the cello. With writing, I normally like to write my own stories. I like seeing
my friends in school and being able to talk to them. In Science class I really like being
able to do the Science labs. One time we made homemade root beer and it did not turn
out very well, but it was still pretty fun.
Would you say you learn best with hands-on activities and group projects?
Yeah. I mean, I can learn either way, but I like group work better.
What role does your family take when it comes to school?
They go to Parent-Teacher conferences, my cello recitals, and my school plays.
Do you ever work with your friends on homework outside of school or during study
halls?
Me and my friend always go to the library together and work on homework.
So you have friends at school who help you out as well?
Yeah.

TAKE A LEARNER TO LUNCH

Who do you consider to be a role model in your life?

Well I really want to be an actress when I grow up, so Kate Blanchet. I really like her as
an actress and I look up to her a lot.
What are your future goals?
I want to be an actress. But also on the side, cause my mom said you cant just go right
into it, she said you have to have like a side career, so I really find being a homicide
detective to be really interesting.
How do you think youll accomplish those goals?
Well, to be a homicide detective you have to take a lot of classes and stuff so I found a lot
of classes for high school that you can take. And for acting, they (high school) have a lot
of school plays and they also have a group thing outside of school that you can do.
Do you have college plans?
Yeah. This year theyre making us pick a college and get information for it.
Do you have an idea of where you want to go?
I want to go to UCLA.
Do you want to keep playing the cello?
Yeah I really like it a lot. I would really like to keep doing it.
What fears do you have about the future?
Failing. Thats probably one of my biggest fears- not being able to do something that I
want to do and ending up working at McDonalds or something.
How do your relationships with your teachers help you grow as a student?
Probably because I can ask them questions and they can tell me the answers and help me
get better.
Has a teacher ever had to send a letter home to your parents letting them know you
werent doing well in a class?
No. I try very hard not to fail a class or something because I know I would get into
terrible trouble. One time on my mid-term exam I got a C and I literally went home and
cried.
I know you said in the past you didnt do so well in school, but now youre doing
much better. What made you start working harder in school?
Since I had such high expectations of what I wanted to be when I got older, I was like,
Well I really need to pull myself together and actually start working harder.
Do you think your parents jobs ever played a role in your family situation?
Well, my dad works really hard so sometimes he comes home stressed out and sometimes
he works long hours. But my mom is usually home shortly after me and (my sister) are.
And shes home during summer breaks so we usually get to do fun stuff with her.

TAKE A LEARNER TO LUNCH

Do you think your mom being a teacher helps you with school?
Yeah, she pushes me to be better and work harder, just like she does for her students.
Have you always lived in the same place?
No. Weve moved three times. It wasnt that hard for me to change schools or anything
though. It was sad to leave some friends though.

Analysis
Urie Bronfenbrenner, an American developmental psychologist, developed the
Ecological Systems Theory, which argued that in order to understand the development
of an individual, one must understand the entire ecological system in which the individual
grows. While interviewing EK, I tried to map out her ecological systems in order to
better understand her unique learning and development situation. Bronfenbrenner
identified five specific systems in which an individual interacts: the microsystem,
mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.
The microsystem involves the institutions or groups that impact the individual the
most. For EK, this includes her family, friends, peers, teachers, school, and church. As
previously stated, her immediate family consists of a mom and dad who are still married,
and an older sister who she has a close relationship with. EK said that it is her parents
who are the most active in her life in terms of her growth and development. They are the
ones who offer her the most support with her homework and attend all parent-teacher
conferences, cello recitals, and school plays. She also affirmed that when there is an
issue at school that her parents are informed about, they never fail to sit down and talk
with her about the situation to make sure shes okay and to help guide her in the right
direction. Specifically, when I asked if her school has ever had to call home, she said,
Not for me, but for other kids in the school. Like, if theres drugs or something, theyll

TAKE A LEARNER TO LUNCH

call home and my parents will ask me, Oh are you okay, are you in any of this? and Im
just like, No. EK also explained that her teachers play a big role in her learning and
development by helping her with her work inside of school. She elaborated on how her
Language Arts teacher helps her to improve her writing, how her Orchestra teacher
interacts with them in a fun manner to help them enjoy the class, and how her Science
teacher creates a lot of fun, hands-on activities to help the students learn. She and her
friends also get together to work on homework on occasion. Another microsystem in
EKs environmental system is the role of the religion in their Catholic family, who attend
church every weekend.
The second system identified by Bronfenbrenner is the mesosystem, which
involves the relationships between the various microsystems. The main mesosystem that
EK and I discussed in our interview was the relationship between her parents and her
teachers. EK stated that her parents attend the parent-teacher conferences every year and
address her teachers about situations when need be. Otherwise, however, there is very
limited communication between the two groups.
The third system is the exosystem, which Bronfenbrenner describes as an
extension of the mesosystem embracing other specific social structuresthat do not
themselves contain the developing person but impinge upon or encompass the immediate
settings in which that person is found, and thereby influence, delimit, or even determine
what does on there (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, p. 515). For EK, I would argue that her
parents jobs play the biggest role in her exosystem. Her fathers job requires him to
sometimes work long hours or come home stressed out, which puts a damper on the
whole family. However, she explained that her mothers job allows her to be home
shortly after the bus drops off EK and her sister and to stay home with them during

TAKE A LEARNER TO LUNCH

school breaks. It is also the fact that her mother is a teacher that gives her the extra
motivation she needs on a daily basis to strive to do her best. As EK put it: She pushes
me to be better and work harder, just like she does for her students.
The fourth system is the macrosystem, defined as the culture in which individuals
live (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, p. 515). As previously stated, EK is raised in a middle-tohigh class, white, Catholic family. She attends a good school and her parents both work
good jobs. She is even privileged enough to be able to own her own cello, which she
practices in her bedroom nightly. Finally, Bronfenbrenners fifth system is the
chronosystem, which is the pattern of events over a course of a lifetime, which influence
learning and development. EK mentioned in our interview that she and her family moved
three times while she was growing up, in which she had to change schools each time.
She said that it was pretty easy for her to move, even though it was sad for her to leave
some of her friends behind. Thus, these three moves can be points in EKs chronosystem.
Another point would be when her dad got the job that he did, which required him to work
longer hours and commute longer during the day, leaving him to be home less often than
he was before. All five of the ecological systems have worked together to mold EK into
the learner, and the person, she is.
Along with Brofenbrenners ecological systems theory, I also tried to frame the
interview around Erik Eriksons psychosocial theory on the eight stages of human
development, specifically focusing on stage five: Ego Identity vs. Role Confusion. It is
during this stage where the child has reached adolescence and begins questioning, Who
am I? and begins to look towards the future, trying to understand which roles he/she will
occupy as an adult. According to Erikson, The sense of ego identity, then, is accrued
confidence that the inner sameness and continuity are matched by the sameness and

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continuity of ones meaning for others, as evidences in the tangible promise of a career
(Erikson, 1964, p. 228). When I initially decided to interview EK, I wanted to know why
she had decided to start buckling down and pulling up her grades this year, since she had
been uninterested in school in years past. Previously she maintained roughly a 2.0
average and is now at a 3.0 or higher, according to EK. When I asked her what made her
start working harder in school, she stated: Since I had such high expectations of what I
wanted to be when I got older, I was like, Well I really need to pull myself together and
actually start working harder. EK loves the cello and writing, which make her who she
is as an individual. However, she has huge dreams of becoming an actress when she
grows up and idolizes Cate Blanchett. In order to accomplish her dream, she plans to
partake in the high school plays and participate in an afterschool acting club. In addition,
though, EK has another big dream of becoming a homicide detective. My mom said
you cant just go right into (acting). She said you have to have like a side career, so I
really find being a homicide detective to be really interesting, EK affirmed. To become
a homicide detective, she has already started looking into classes she can take in high
school and has begun researching UCLA. The sense of identity that EK has already
begun to grasp in terms of college and career at just 14-years-old affirms Eriksons theory
of identity vs. role confusion.
The theories developed by Erikson and Bronfenbrenner can both be analyzed in
terms of childhood development, as pointed out in this paper. Bronfenbrenners five
ecological systems all work to mold EK into the person she is today and the person she is
becoming. In addition, Eriksons stages of human development work to understand
where a child is in terms of his/her learning and development. Specifically, by knowing
that EK falls into the adolescent stage of Identity vs. Role Diffusion, I was able to

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10

understand why she was beginning to apply herself more in school in order to prepare for
college and her potential career. It is significant to be able to note the impact of ones
ecological systems, as well as society, history, and culture as a whole on ones personality
at different developmental levels. By understanding the childs ecological systems as
well as the stage of development he/she occupies, the educator can better understand and
work to the needs of the student, as well as ensuring that the student develops a healthy
identity and continues to succeed in his/her academic, professional, and personal life.

References
Bronfenbrenner,U.(1977).TowardAnExperimentalEcologyOfHumanDevelopment.
AmericanPsychologist,513531.
Erikson, E. (1964). Eight Stages of Man. In Childhood and society (2d ed., pp. 219-233).
New York: Norton.