Thoughts on the Relationship between Instrumental and Relational Understanding - September 9th Group Discussion

 In my initial response to Skemp's article, I speculated that Instrumental understanding should be taught before relational understanding. I justified by stating:

1. Instrumental understanding can act as a frame of reference / landmark for Relational understanding

2. Instrumental understanding can be used to inspire / motivate Relational understanding. 

During our class discussion today, I came to realize that there is (likely?) significant personal bias in this opinion. As it relates to point (1), there is nothing to suggest that relational understanding cannot act as a frame of reference for instrumental understanding. I am confident that for me personally, instrumental understanding helps me with process relational understanding. However, I now see that there is likely value for others, namely those who learn differently from me, to approach understanding in the opposite way. 

As it relates to point (2) - I now speculate that given any subject, either relational OR instrumental understanding may offer content which serves as motivation for the novice of the subject. In this way, one should consider each subject individually so as to determine how best to inspire future interest.