ABSTRACT
This chapter explores on specific aspects of parenting appear to influence children's outcomes and by evaluating the importance of parental resources, before moving on to their knowledge, attitudes and finally their parenting practices. It then discusses the long-term effectiveness of particular programmes that have been adopted in various countries to improve parenting, especially programmes targeting parents whose children are at risk of poor outcomes. Children in good home-learning environments, with additional financial and cultural resources available to them, do better in terms of their cognitive and non-cognitive skill. There are a number of theories that explain what makes for effective parenting, the main ones being social learning theory, attachment theory, parenting styles theory and the model of human ecology. Parents with more education and higher aspirations, who parent in a warm but authoritative manner, will tend to have children who have higher educational achievement.
