Macrosystem
largest and most overarching level of influence on an individual’s development.
It includes the cultural values, beliefs, laws, customs, ideologies, and social systems that shape how people in a society live and think. These broad factors indirectly affect individuals by influencing the smaller systems around them (like family, school, or government).
Mesosystem
refers to the connections or interactions between different parts of a person’s microsystem. includes the immediate environments a person directly interacts with — such as family, school, peers, and workplace. looks at how these settings influence one another. about how different parts of your daily life connect and affect each other.
Microsystem
innermost level
immediate environments that a person directly interacts with in their daily life.
It’s where direct, face-to-face relationships and experiences happen — the people and settings that have the most immediate and powerful impact on someone’s development.
closest layer to the individual, made up of the people, activities, and relationships they engage with most often.
Exosystem
includes the social settings that a person doesn’t directly participate in but that still have an indirect influence on them.
These are environments that affect someone through their impact on the people or institutions around them. involves external factors that indirectly shape a person’s experiences and development.
Moral Development
Along with a more advanced theory of mind and an understanding of intention, children also develop a sense of right and wrong
Self-concept
Individuals’ mental picture of who they are; their impressions, beliefs and attitudes about themselves (pg. 154)
Self-esteem
The value each of us places on our own characteristics, abilities, and behaviours (pg. 157)
Theory of Mind
An understanding that other people are people, too, with their own minds, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, desires, and perceptions (pg. 159)
First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model
represents the link between First Nations lifelong learning and community well-being and can be used as a framework for measuring success in lifelong learning
framework that links lifelong learning with community well-being for First Nations peoples. It uses the image of a living tree to represent how learning is continuous, interconnected, and influenced by many factors throughout life.
Roots represent sources and domains of knowledge, including both Indigenous and Western traditions.
Trunk and rings show the individual’s personal development through four dimensions—spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental—reflecting that learning is holistic and lifelong.
Branches and leaves symbolize growth, well-being, and collective prosperity, including cultural, social, political, and economic health.
Learning happens in all stages of life—formally and informally—and is supported by relationships with family, community, and nature. The model emphasizes balance, interconnection, and the ongoing exchange of knowledge across generations.
Metis Holistic Lifelong Learning Model
framework that connects Métis lifelong learning with community well-being. It uses the image of a living tree to show that learning is a continuous, interconnected, and regenerative process that develops throughout life.
Roots represent the individual’s health and well-being—social, physical, emotional, spiritual, and economic—and are grounded in Indigenous knowledge and values that give stability.
Trunk and rings symbolize holistic learning across life stages, beginning in childhood and continuing through adulthood. The rings reflect the dynamic interaction of formal and informal learning influenced by family, community, and culture.
Branches and leaves stand for the “Sources of Knowledge and Knowing,” such as self, people, land, language, and traditions. The leaves’ colours show the depth of understanding in each area, and as they fall, they enrich the roots—symbolizing the ongoing sharing and renewal of knowledge.
Overall, the model highlights the sacred, interconnected, and cyclical nature of learning, emphasizing balance, relationships, and harmony within oneself, the community, and the natural world.
Inuit Lifelong Learning Model
illustrates the connection between Inuit lifelong learning and community well-being. It uses the image of a blanket toss—a traditional Inuit celebration—to symbolize the strength and support of community and the ongoing “Journey of Lifelong Learning.”
Learning foundation: The model is rooted in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ)—traditional Inuit values and beliefs. Ancestors and family members are shown “holding up” the learning blanket, representing how learning is supported through kinship, identity, and intergenerational knowledge.
Sources of Knowledge: Within the blanket are domains such as culture, people, and sila (life force or essential energy), along with sub-domains like language, traditions, family, community, Elders, land, and environment.
Learning journey: Learning occurs throughout all life stages—infant, child, youth, young adult, adult, and elder—and in both informal (home, land) and formal (school, community) settings. Inuit learning draws from both Indigenous and Western knowledge, represented by the two colours of stitching around the blanket.
Outcome: Each learning experience enhances awareness of Inuit culture and self, while the skills and knowledge gained contribute to community well-being—physical, economic, social, and environmental—and feed back into the lifelong learning cycle.
In essence, the model portrays learning as interconnected, cyclical, and community-based, emphasizing relationships, cultural values, and the balance between individual growth and collective well-being.
Educational Psychology
the discipline concerned with teaching and learning processes; it applies the methods and theories of psychology and has its own as well
Culturally Responsive Education
“an approach to teaching and learning that facilitates critical consciousness, engenders respect for diversity, and acknowledges the importance of relationships, while honouring, building upon, and drawing from the culture, knowledge and language of the students, teachers, and local community” (p. 5). Culturally relevant or culturally responsive education, a vital part of the anti-racist work needed in our education systems, requires a deeper understanding of the concepts of identity and culture and how these intersect with learner success in the school system, and the awareness that for educators to develop an understanding of that intersection, they must first be able to identify how their own cultural values and identities influence their pedagogical beliefs and practices.
Culture as an iceberg
just as most of the iceberg is out of sight and below the water line, so are most cultural differences invisible to others and even out of conscious awareness. The out-of-awareness differences are often the causes of misunderstandings and conflicts. pg. 32
Intersectionality
our overlapping, intersecting social identities (genders sexual orientation, class, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status age, and so on) that shape each and every one of us in unique ways (p. 37)
Stereotypes
A widely held, often oversimplified schema that organizes knowledge or perceptions about a category (pg. 38)
Prejudice
prejudgment, or irrational generalization about an entire category of people (p.40)
Discrimination
unfair treatment or behaviour towards a particular group of people.
Treating or acting unfairly towards particular categories of people (p. 42)
Stereotype Threat
the worry of an individual who is part of a minority group, which is caused by the possibility of being negatively stereotyped. This worry then affects their performance negatively, fulfilling the stereotype.
The emotional and cognitive burdens that can result from heightened awareness that your performance in an academic situation might confirm a stereotype that others hold about you (p. 41)
Ethnic Racial Identity
“the beliefs, feelings, significance, and meaning people have about their ethnicity or race.” (p.51)
Effects of Poverty on Educational Outcomes
Low expectations, low academic self-concept
Peer influence and resistance cultures
Mechanisms:
Family and environmental stress
Culture
Resources and Development
Developmental factors
pg. 46
Social Inequality
Disadvantages related to a person’s social standing
Like poverty
Privilege
refers to the unearned advantages, benefits, or rights that individuals or groups receive based on their social identity (such as race, class, gender, ability, or sexual orientation). These advantages are often invisible to those who have them and are maintained through social, cultural, and institutional systems.
Cultural Assumptions
the unstated beliefs, values, and expectations that are deeply embedded in a society and taken for granted by its members. They shape how people perceive the world, communicate, and behave, influencing everything from what is considered “normal” to how to interpret a message. These assumptions are often unconscious, learned through generations, and can lead to misunderstandings and stereotypes when people from different cultures interact.
