Math Reflection Week 3: Instructional and Relational Understanding

One thing I quite enjoyed learning about today during my teaching math class was the differences between instructional and relational learning.  This was presented in class via a Youtube video.  I have a feeling that most people have learned math through an instructional teacher.  The instructional method is best described as logical, procedural and formulaic.  Instructional teaching focuses on memorizing formulas to solve problems, learning how to solve the problem after being given the instructional knowledge and then having the teacher identify your answer as correct.  Relational teaching on the other hand focuses on getting students to understand the concepts, ask how and why and identifying the elements of the problem.  As student teachers we have by now learned that every child learns differently.  Many students will want to learn instructionally, asking for the formula to solve a problem, and some will be relational, asking how and why mathematical processes work. 

This video suggests that relational learning is superior to instructional learning.  Highlighting that if a teacher uses an instructional method it will frustrate relational learners, but if a student uses relational teaching it may frustrate instructional learners at first but they will eventually come around to be relational learners.  Thus this video from A Learning Place argues that only relational learning should be used by teachers as it will create the best learning for all students.  I have a problem with this assertion.  I find it strange that an instructional method will not work for relational learners, but a relational method will eventually work for instructional learners.  This to me seems to indicate a heavy bias towards relational teaching.  As a teacher I would want to use both instructional and relational methods.  I do not see it as detrimental to learning to try and express a lesson in both a relational way while also providing instructional knowledge to students.  A math lesson should accommodate both instructional and relational learners.  

From this video I have learned about two distinct forms of math teaching and learning.  Although it might seem like the two are opposites, I believe that both could be very complimentary in my classroom.  To me this shows that mathematical learning as a teacher, is far more than simple instructional knowledge, but requires a deeper mathematical pedagogical knowledge to know the answers to the why and how questions.  I would hope to incorporate both instructional and relational instruction into my classroom to better cater to both mathematical learning types.  By offering both I would hope that students could discover which method works best for them or which one is more engaging to them