Hi – I’m Dan Pearcy and I’ve enjoyed teaching maths for the last 14 years. I started as a Teach First participant in Greater Manchester before my wife dragged me away from the UK to teach in international school settings, first in Brazil and now Switzerland. I was a Head of Mathematics and a part of Senior Leadership for the last 6 years, but after an abrupt school closure I decided to take the opportunity to get back into the classroom full-time; a decision which I am truly ecstatic about.
As a Dad of a 3 year old toddler and 5 month old baby, I spend most of my time pretending to be a pet cat (why does it always have to be a cat?), a monster or a wizard, changing nappies, reading the tiger who came to tea, and all other incredible – and exhausting – elements of parenthood.
A few additional things:
- Education: Mathematics Degree (Leeds University); Masters in Education (Durham University)
- I recently published a book called Mathematical Beauty: What is it and can anyone experience it?
- I work as a visiting presenter on the Durham University iPGCE teacher training programme.
- I’ve ran the Swiss Group of International Schools Maths Conference for the last 3 years.
- I’ve authored geogebra applets for Kognity online textbooks.
- I make online videos for one of the IB Diploma courses at InThinking. We have videos, quiz questions with solutions, exam based questions with video solutions, a phone app with close to 2000 questions, flashcards, etc. It’s a site for students to learn and review the Applications and Interpretations SL course. Link: studyib.net/mathsapplications
Recent Maths Education endeavours:
- September 2019: Edinburgh Maths Conf – A Deep Analysis of the Inquiry vs Explicit Instruction Debate
- November 2019: iPGCE Maths Trainees – 7 Myths about Maths Education
- January 2020: Swiss Maths Conf – Mixed Methods Teaching
- May 2020: #MathsChatLive discussion with Atul Rana, Mark McCourt, Emma McCrea and Anne Watson.
- June 2020: Virtual Maths Conf – Ideas and Tasks to Promote Awe, Wonder and Pleasure (Surprising Practice)
- July 2020: Seneca Virtual Maths Conference – Introducing Pedagogy Prompts
- September 2020: Interview with Bobby Seagull for the Institut le Rosey Bookfete.
- October 2020: Virtual Maths Conf – Pedagogy Prompts
- October 2020: iPGCE workshop 1 – An Introduction to Cognitive Load Theory
- November 2020: Reflections on Teaching Trigonometry. An article for the Open University Maths Education Programme.
- January 2020 – iPGCE workshop 2-7: Explicit Instruction vs Inquiry, Behaviour Prevention and Management and Assessment for Learning.
- January 2021 East Midlands Maths Conference – Surprising Practice and Pedagogy Prompts for Primary educators.
- March 2021: Virtual Maths Conf – Mathematical Beauty: What is it and can anyone experience it?
- May 2021: #GLTbookclub appearance to discuss Mathematical Beauty
- January 2022: Virtual Maths Conf – Analysing Current Dichotomies in Maths Education
- June 2022: Le Rosey EduFest -Analysing Current Dichotomies in Maths Education (Part 2)
For speaking engagement/workshops – please contact me at dpearcy@isl.ch