Abstract
Research has found that parental involvement can be a cost effective way of raising children's literacy achievements at school (e.g. Tizard et al., 1982). Some researchers have advocated the use of specific training techniques to help parents with this work (e.g. Topping, 1993; Whitehurst et al., 1988). However, there is a lack of consensus about the form such training should take which is related to differing views on teaching and learning particularly with regard to literacy. This article argues that since, in practice, parental involvement normally means mother's involvement much of value can be learnt from research on the social context of young children's development which invariably focuses on mother-child dyads. Knowledge of the crucial role played by the 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.