About Ron Lancaster

Ron is an Associate Professor (Teaching Stream) at the University of Toronto where he teaches mathematics courses for pre-service middle and high school teachers.  He has over 20 years of experience teaching grades 7-12 mathematics.

Ron’s professional activities in North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and India include consultations for public, independent and international schools that include the Heritage School (Delhi, India); Jakarta Intercultural School (Jakarta, Indonesia); Taipei American School (Taipei, Taiwan); Ghana International School (Accra, Ghana); the American Community School (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) and the American School of Dubai (Dubai, United Arab Emirates).

Ron has been a presenter at hundreds of conferences, including 57 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual and Regional Conferences; 36 consecutive Ontario Association for Mathematics Education Annual Conferences; 8 East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools Conferences and 3 National Conferences on Graphing Calculators in Malaysia.  Ron has facilitated almost 100 week-long courses for mathematics teachers at 30 consecutive Phillips Exeter Academy Mathematics and Technology Conferences; Mathematical Sciences Institutes in New Orleans; STEM Educators’ Camps at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics and the Peddie School Mathematics & Technology Conferences for Middle School Teachers.

Ron in Paris

Working with Ron

  • “In the world of math education, Ron Lancaster is a gift that keeps on giving.  He’s a favorite speaker at our Teaching Contemporary Mathematics Conference year after year because our teacher-attendees are mesmerized by the rich and creative ways he thinks about mathematics as well as by his talent for using algebra, geometry, precalculus, and more to uncover fascinating patterns and relationships in the diversity of places he finds himself.  Teachers walk out of Lancaster’s sessions with a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and their applications.  And, they feel inspired to look at old problems and ideas through new lenses and then redesign their lessons to better challenge and excite their students.  We look forward to continuing our partnership with Lancaster for many years to come.”

    Forrest Hinton, Teaching Contemporary Mathematics Coordinator, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

  • “Ron is very passionate about mathematics and his enthusiasm about mathematics instruction is contagious. If you sit in a presentation by Ron, you will no doubt develop an interest and would be an improved mathematics instructor thereafter.”

    Francis Hukpati, GIS

  • “Ron is impressive inside and outside of the classroom.  His workshops are presented in such a way that even the most math-phobic people would be put at ease.  What impressed me most was his spontaneity and ability to switch gears when an unexpected question was presented.  Although Ron’s forte is middle and high school mathematics, Ron was able to modify and present his material in such a way that all grade levels, elementary to high school, benefited from attending his workshops.”

    Lolita Mattos, Head of Mathematics Department, Surabaya Intercultural School, Indonesia

  • “Ron visited our school on more than one occasion, spending a week at a time working with our middle and high school math teachers.  His love of math is contagious and his math walks foster wonder in both teachers and students.  Through his workshops, and by generously sharing his resources, he supported our teachers in engaging students in rich, complex tasks that both challenged and inspired them.”

    Michelle Kuhns, former Director of Learning, American School of Dubai

    Intercultural School, Indonesia

  • “Ron Lancaster has been an important part of our development as a department and for the development of many of our 12th grade students this year.  We brought in Ron to help get some ideas of how investigations and inquiry based learning could be further implemented in our classrooms.  Ron challenged us to think how multiple units could be covered across single investigations, he had us try some of his open-ended activities, and he (most importantly) spurred us on to have great conversations about inquiry based methods with in our department that are still going on today.  Along with all of this Ron also was willing to work with our grade 12 students individually that needed help with a direction to pursue for their HL IAs.  I know many of my students were in contact with him well after he had gone back to Canada.  The willingness and patience Ron showed during his time here (and afterwards) reflect his amazing character and his deep-rooted love of math.  He was both inspirational and practical in his approaches.”

    Ryon Vallans, Head of Mathematics Department, Jakarta Intercultural School

  • “Mr. Lancaster has an extraordinary talent to develop mathematical questions and tasks related to everyday life (architecture, design, public art, floor patterns, shoes, movies, newspaper articles and origami).  He is able to make mathematics come alive and he has endless strategies for teachers to use to engage their students.”

    Feny Ong, Surabaya International School