I qualified as a mathematics teacher with a B Sc Ed followed by a B Sc Hons in Mathematics Education from Wits University. I then studied an M Phil in Cambridge University having won a Cambridge Livingstone Trust Scholarship. I studied my PhD in mathematics education, particularly mathematics teacher education and developing in-service communities of practice at the time of radical curriculum change (introduction C2005) at Wits University from 1998-2002. I currently hold the SA Numeracy Chair at Rhodes university which blends research and development thus searching for sustainable ways forward to the challenges while at the same time partnering with twelve schools in development work aimed at strengthening mathematical proficiency in our schools and beyond.