Pieter went on to obtain his BA from the University of Stellenbosch in 1980. He received his BA Hons (cum laude) in 1981, his HED in 1982, his MA History (cum laude) in 1988 and his BEd in 1991, all from the University of Stellenbosch. He received his PhD from North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus) in 2008.
Pieter lectured in History and Social Sciences in Education at North-West University from 2003–2009. Since 2010, he has served as Senior Lecturer in History and Social Sciences in Education at the North-West University, and since 2018 as Deputy Director for the School of Commerce and Social Studies in Education on the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. He is author/editor several books and also published numerous chapters in books. He has written more than 15 articles in accredited and educationally-focused journals and has tendered more than 30 papers at national and international conferences. He has developed a total of more than twenty study guides for undergraduate and post-graduate students. He is also involved in the designing and presentation of short learning programmes / workshops / research cafes. Furthermore, he is a critical reader and external examiner of various publications/dissertations, and has refereed a variety of manuscripts for accredited journals such as Journal of Educational Studies, New Contree, South African Journal of Education and Yesterday & Today. He is also supervising Masters and PhD students.