1. Ecology of childhood
What makes us who we are? Every human being is unique. Though we may share many qualities with others, there are no two beings who are exactly the same. Even identical twins differ from each other as they grow up.
Children come into the world with unique genetic predispositions that respond to the world around them. From conception on, a child’s world is shaped by other individuals, available resources, opportunities, and cultural patterns. Because each child is different, children who experience similar environments can have very different outcomes. In turn, children themselves affect their environments.
Think about your own childhood. How would you describe the people, places and events that remain significant memories for you?
How do you think these may have influenced your development?
What has a strong influence in your life now?
The late Dr. Fraser Mustard, founder of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and co-founder of the Council for Early Childhood Development, explains the importance of environments in the survival of the human species – now and in the past.
In the next reading, Mothers and others needed for healthy human development, from the Early Years Study 3 (McCain et al., 2011, pp. 5 – 8), Mustard discusses his own career trajectory and how he has been influenced by the work of Sarah Blaffer Hrdy. The reading discusses some of the main ideas of her work.
What does the well-used phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” mean to you?
How are family structures influenced by social and economic institutions?
What kinds of communities does Fraser Mustard suggest support optimal early human development?
….the ecology of childhood is the study of systems and environments surrounding and affecting children” (Woodhouse, 2020, p. 11).
Children grow up surrounded by people, places and events that shape their daily lives and future prospects. Think about the immense variation of geography, cultures, sociopolitical circumstances and economies around our world. Yet children can survive and thrive in very different conditions. The following images show some of the very different surroundings in which children live.
Consider…
Daily life in downtown Vancouver
In downtown Vancouver, near Stanley Park, five-year-old twins Sasha and Petra live with their mother, Aurelia, in a small 600 square foot one bedroom apartment on the 12th floor of a high-rise building. They share the bedroom and Aurelia sleeps on a pullout couch in the living room…Read more
How would you describe the physical environment that Sasha and Petra live in?
The twins and their mother live in poverty, relative to Canadian measures of family income. What assets does their urban environment offer?
In the next clip, Fraser Mustard points out that social environments shape early life experiences that in turn shape brain development and lifelong learning, behaviour and health.
What does Fraser Mustard mean by “social environments”?
What influences a young child’s social environment?
What do you think Fraser Mustard thinks is the most important element of a young child’s social environment? Do you agree?
Listen as Dr. Thomas Boyce, distinguished professor emeritus in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, uses the Orchid-Dandelion metaphor to explain how our genes and social environment interact to overcome adversity. Dr. Boyce and Dr. Bruce Ellis, researchers and child development experts, describe the variation among children’s reactions to stress with the metaphor Orchid-Dandelion Child. Based on the Swedish expression Maskros barn – meaning dandelion child – this explains how some children manage to thrive despite exposure to environmental challenges, like a hardy dandelion. On the other hand, an Orkide barn – meaning orchid-child – is more delicate than a dandelion-child, meaning more sensitive to the quality of their environment including the type of parenting they received as a child.
Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, chair of the Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development at the University of Toronto, comments on differences in susceptibility to the same risks. She points out that we know less about children who thrive than the children who have difficulties.
What do you think of the Orchid-Dandelion metaphor?
Do you think of yourself as an “orchid” or a “dandelion”?
Can you think of a child who might be an example of an orchid-child or a dandelion-child?
What cautionary notes does Jenkins raise?
Ecological theories of human development look at the inter-relatedness of the individual (i.e., the child) and the various environments, settings or contexts (e.g., home, school, early childhood program) in each child’s life. Researchers use these models to understand the reciprocal relationships in these contexts – how the child is affected by the people (e.g., parents, teachers, early childhood educators), and in turn, how the child’s characteristics affect these people. Although immediate settings (e.g., home or child care setting) are seen as having the most impact, an ecological perspective also provides a useful way of understanding the effects of broader contexts or systems, such as culture.
