Social ecological perspective continued

Question 1

A view from practice

Answer 1

Levels of influence

Question 2

the issue of inequality in educational attainment is one of the drivers for community-based early intervention.

Answer 2

initiatives that target poorer communities

Question 3

At each ecological level, it is possible to identify factors

Answer 3

that potentially help or hinder children’s participation within formal education.

Question 4

•Children’s choices are influenced by what they see around them at home, in the community or in the media.

Answer 4

For example, the dominant career aspirations for these children are highly gendered, the girls saying ‘I want to have a baby … to be like my mum’, and the boys ‘I want to be a footballer’.

Question 5

•Some children are exposed in families and communities to domestic violence, alcohol, drugs, and youth crime

Answer 5

which may indirectly impact on their schooling

Question 6

•Lesley argues that unemployment at the social and community level creates a ‘culture’

Answer 6

where work is not valued.

Question 7

•There are mismatches of expectation

Answer 7

such as children’s communication skills modelled on aggressive behaviour in the home not being suited for participation in schools.

Question 8

•Despite the barriers, some parents actively engage and support their local schools

Answer 8

These parents also challenge school practitioners and ask questions. Lesley constructs this as behaviour indicative of parents who want their children to succeed.

Question 9

•In Lesley’s view, child development is linked to parental involvement and she sees it as her organisation’s responsibility as a community-level resource

Answer 9

to support parents who ask for help in developing new parenting skills.

Question 10

using the issues identified by Lesley Finnegan

Answer 10

children’s participation in formal education can be influenced by the different systems or environments within which they are ‘nested’

Question 11

Society

Answer 11

social - economic factors influencing ambitions and opportunities

Question 12

community

Answer 12

community level support and barriers (Drugs, alcohol and crime)

Question 13

family

Answer 13

family values and behaviour (consistent and inconsistent with school)

Question 14

child

Answer 14

individual child’s ambitions, choices and behaviour (agency)