Teacher Profile: Iwan Anugerah Pekerti

Year(s) and Subject(s) Taught: Mathematics: Year 7 to Year 11 and Additional Mathematics Year 10 & Year 11 

How long have you been teaching?

11 years.

Why did you become a teacher? Why did you choose teaching as a profession? 

 Having worked in R&D and the IT industry for 14 years, I was amazed at how we, humans, can develop from a helpless baby into a self-sufficient, thinking, living being who can fly to the moon and back. All the technology in the world put together doesn’t even come close to a five-year-old child, which sparked my interest in our mental development and the learning process. 

Despite having been involved in seven start-up ventures, once I started teaching, I found it to be the most exciting and enjoyable endeavour I have ever experienced in my life. It is a profession where we need to tap into our creativity, ingenuity, knowledge, pragmatism and physical strength all together. Simply put, teaching is awesome! 

Tell us about your own education journey.

I entered teaching with an engineer’s perspective, to reverse-engineer the learning process, to explore and improve the learning process. What I discovered was that teaching and learning is as much a social, spiritual and emotional journey as it is an academic one. 

I have always enjoyed learning new things but I felt I have always learnt in my own way, which doesn’t always conform to the norm. I wanted to share my knowledge, experiences and joy of learning with others. So, I started a home school where I would be able to do just that, while I enrolled in the Masters in Education (Special Needs) programme at Nottingham University, which has equipped me with the skills to be able to become a more effective teacher. 

What is the most memorable moment in your teaching career so far? 

Being with my students; when I learn from them and they learn from me. When my students eventually realise what I have told them at the start of term, that ‘solving for x’ is one of the most satisfying things they would come to experience in math. 

What do you like most about teaching?

Keeping abreast of and implementing new teaching strategies to make learning more meaningful. 

What is the best thing about teaching at your school? 

Amazing colleagues and students who appreciate and enjoy discovering new things every day, as well as working with parents to create a learning community. 

Who or what inspires you? 

My loving wife, my wonderful parents, my ‘are you kidding me’ children, my dedicated colleagues, my ’have you done your homework’ students and many strangers from TED Talks. 

Tell us about your online teaching experience. Did you face any challenges?

There is no replacing human interaction in the learning process. I needed to constantly find strategies to continue to make learning relevant to support my students. 

What lessons did you learn in 2020?

I needed to adopt a growth mindset and continually adapt to keep up with the constantly changing world; diversifying the way in which I learn and consequently the way I teach and maintain the mental well-being of my students.