The ecological theory of development was created by a Russian-American psychologist named Urie Bronfenbrenner. He developed the theory based on the belief that all children grow and develop differently based on their environmental factors and the situations surrounding those environmental factors. The theory consisted of four levels and later a fifth level was added. The microsystem level focused on those factors that immediately surrounded the child. Such factors might include: family, school, neighborhood, and church. The mesosystem level is a connection between two different environments, such as school and neighborhood. Those external environmental factors such as media, government, extended family and friends are referred to as exosystem. The fourth level of the theory included environmental factors related to cultural beliefs and the national economy. The fifth level, the chronosystem, was later added by Bronfenbrenner to demonstrate that changes occur over time within each individual. As I studied these different levels of ecological development, it became clear that each of these levels influenced my life at different stages. And each level had a different environmental influence on my progress. In Bronfenbrenner's model my microsystem consisted of my mother, father, and two younger brothers. My mother always worked full time outside the home and only attended one year of college. My father, on the other hand, had not attended university but had graduated from high school. He couldn't read very well and worked as a construction worker. His health problems were many and he was diagnosed as disabled for much of my childhood. One of my brothers was only fifteen months younger than me, and the other five and a half years younger. Next up… half the work… get a second master's degree in career counseling. I just got to the final stages of a job offer as an employment consultant and was not offered the position. When asked for feedback on my interview, I was told that although my resume and interview were very impressive and I was in the top 3 candidates, I was not chosen due to my lack of direct education and experience as a consultant . So this just confirmed my decision that I had chosen the right time to pursue another master's degree. Works Cited Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Crandell, T. L., Crandell, C. H., & Vander Zanden, J. W. (2009). Human Development (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Paquette, D., Ryan, J. (n.d.) Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory. Retrieved from http://pt3.nl.edu/paquetteryanwebquest.pdf