ENCOURAGING PARENTS INVOLVEMENT IN THEIR CHILDRENS LITERACY DEVELOPMENT - A LITERATURE-REVIEW WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PRACTICING EDUCATIONAL-PSYCHOLOGIST
F. Macleod, ENCOURAGING PARENTS INVOLVEMENT IN THEIR CHILDRENS LITERACY DEVELOPMENT - A LITERATURE-REVIEW WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PRACTICING EDUCATIONAL-PSYCHOLOGIST, School psychology international, 17(4), 1996, pp. 379-391
Research has found that parental involvement can be a cost-effective w
ay of raising children's literacy achievements at school (e.g. Tizard
et al., 1982). Some researchers have advocated the use of specific tra
ining techniques to help parents with this work (e.g. Topping, 1993; W
hitehurst et al., 1988). However, there is a lack of consensus about t
he form such training should take which is related to differing views
on teaching and learning particularly with regard to literacy. This ar
ticle argues that since, in practice, parental involvement normally me
ans mother's involvement much of value can be learnt from research on
the social context of young children's development which invariably fo
cuses on mother-child dyads. Knowledge of the crucial role played by t
he mother in parental involvement also helps alert school personnel to
the different conditions under which the work is done at home which,
in turn, may have important implications for task selection.