Home Learning Environment and Children’s Learning and Well-Being

Abstract

Researchers in child development and other related disciplines have long been concerned with factors, both proximal and distal, that promote good developmental, social and educational outcomes in children. Building on the traditions of Vygotsky (1978) and Bruner (1983) with their focus on the social nature of children’s learning and well-being, I examined parent—child interactions (e.g. reading, homework support, emotional closeness), especially with young children, and the parental influences on children’s language, literacy and social behaviour at home. How parents interact with their children forms a complex social and cultural ecology and attempts to examine their interactions from a single-discipline perspective are often misguided. Considering the interdisciplinary nature of scholarship on child—parent interactions, the MCS analyses presented in this chapter have drawn on both qualitative and quantitative studies from diverse fields such as social policy, psychology, education and sociology.