Mapping ecological paradigms in educational psychology: a decade of scholarship in Frontiers in Psychology (2013–2025)

Introduction Educational psychology has increasingly drawn on ecological perspectives to address the complexity of learning and development across contexts. This review synthesizes educational psychology studies published in Frontiers in Psychology between 2013 and 2025 that explicitly invoke ecological perspectives. The study investigates three main research questions: (1) What educational contexts, populations, research topics, and methodological approaches characterize ecological research in educational psychology? (2) Which ecological paradigms are most frequently employed and how are they conceptualized? (3) How are these ecological paradigms operationalized to investigate learning and developmental processes? Methods A theory-informed narrative synthesis was used to analyze 70 studies published in Frontiers in Psychology. Studies were selected based on their explicit engagement with ecological perspectives, and were categorized according to educational context, target population, research topic, methodology, and ecological paradigm. The review focused on identifying patterns of theoretical use and operationalization within the studies, employing a narrative synthesis approach to integrate diverse studies and concepts. Results The analysis revealed that most studies were conducted within higher education, with a predominant focus on student populations and topics such as motivation, mental health, and academic achievement. The studies identified three primary ecological paradigms: Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, other ecological frameworks, and ecological validity as a methodological principle. A clear trend toward the increasing use of Bronfenbrenner's theory was observed. The studies leaned heavily on quantitative and multilevel techniques, with ecological paradigms primarily functioning as classificatory lenses. Findings reveal a shift from methodologically focused uses of ecological validity toward the consolidation of ecological systems theory, alongside emerging process-oriented and integrative approaches. Discussion The review highlights the journal's contribution to advancing context-sensitive, relational, and temporally informed research, while also noting variation in the depth of theoretical engagement and operationalization. By situating these patterns within broader debates on ecological pluralism and theoretical clarification, the review offers conceptual and methodological insights for the continued refinement of ecological perspectives in educational psychology within increasingly complex educational environments.