120 Cathy Little
that young person. Bronfenbrenner’s framework concedes that the relationships a
student has with the people and events in the environments that surround them
impact on their development. Bronfenbrenner’s revised bioecological theory also
added to his original ecological systems theory, the component of time, con-
ceptualised as the chronosystem (Figure 9.1). Bronfenbrenner postulated that an
individual’s interactions within and across the various systems that surround them
would change over time.
This chapter uses the bioecological framework to explore the impact of rela-
tionships both within and between key players in the school community who both
influence and shape the social inclusion of a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
At the centre of the system lies the individual student. One of this student’s many
unique characteristics is their Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis. Surrounding
the student, in the microsystem, is the student’s family, friends, teacher/s and peers.
The next layer, the mesosystem, includes the broader school community and the
Principal/Administrator. An exosystem of family friends, neighbours, and support
and welfare agencies comprises the next layer. The policies and legislation central
to education and disability, accompanied by prevailing attitudes and issues of social
justice, are part of the macrosystem that encompasses all the internal layers. The
chronosystem can be defined as the student’s educational life course, from pre-
school enrolment through to post-school employment. Using this bioecological
framework, the expressed belief system of individuals, administrators, teachers,
students and peers, can be compared to the practice and policy enacted within the
MacrosystemExosystemMesosystemMicrosystemStudentChronosystemFIGURE 9.1 A visual representation of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems
theory, showing the nested layers, or systems of the environment, and their
relationship to the individual student over time