Dr. Keegan Dasilva Barbosa

Subject: Math and Problem Solving

What will my child walk away with? A genuine passion for mathematical thinking and the relational understanding of mathematics that comes from learning alongside someone whose doctoral and postdoctoral work at the University of Toronto and the Fields Institute for Mathematical Research focused on Mathematical Logic and Ramsey Theory. I believe sparking a student’s passion for mathematics is the most reliable way to improve their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

What can families expect? A teacher who believes the best way to learn mathematics is by actively engaging with the material, and who takes the art of teaching seriously as a factor in how engaged students actually are. Despite having a Ph.D. in a highly abstract field, I teach with a relational approach that gives problems context and meaning rather than treating them as purely formal exercises.

What does class actually feel like? Intellectually alive and genuinely engaging. I believe mathematics is fundamentally about problem solving, and I teach it that way — as a discipline where the goal is always to understand something rather than simply to execute a procedure. Students consistently discover that mathematics is far more interesting than they expected.

How do you challenge a curious mind? I give curious students problems that sit at the edge of what they currently understand, where the path to a solution requires genuine mathematical creativity rather than the application of a familiar technique. That experience of genuine mathematical discovery is what I am trying to produce, and it is available at every level of the subject.

Credentials and Experience Ph.D. in Mathematics, University of Toronto. Postdoctoral Fellow, Fields Institute for Mathematical Research (research in Mathematical Logic and Ramsey Theory, resulting in several published papers). Teaching experience ranging from graduate and undergraduate university instruction to tutoring younger students. Several years of experience across multiple levels and contexts.