Such episodes suggest an expectation that parents systematically support their children’s
mathematical learning, an implication supported by earlier findings that most Finnish teacher
education students had not only received help with mathematics from their parents but also that
the family encouraged positive attitudes towards the subject (Hannula, Kaasila, Pehkonen, &
Laine, 2007). Such inter-generational behaviour has been highlighted by evidence showing the
positive benefits for children’s learning of dynamic cultural capital; that is, the higher the
quality of the cultural interactions and communication between children and their parents, the
better their learning (Tramonte & Willms, 2010).