Dr. Maurice Taylor
Hall of Fame Class of 2015
Dr. Maurice Taylor has been a leader in Canadian adult literacy and basic education for more the 35 years. During his early college teaching he created literacy program models that were implemented by governmental agencies Canada-wide, including one of the first literacy programs offered on public housing sites, a worker’s compensation board program for injured workers, and a literacy tutorial program model for low functioning adults. During this period, he helped establish Canada’s National Literacy Secretariat and received the Secretariat’s first workplace literacy grant, resulting in an assessment model still in use today. Since 1990, he has been a professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, where he developed a graduate program in adult education. He has been a principal/co-investigator for more than $5.5 million in grants for adult and workplace learning. With more than 150 publications, his work is used today in textbooks, academic symposia, international and national colloquia, and government consultations. Significantly, he brought leading Canadian thinkers on adult literacy together through five peer-reviewed edited books, each of which has helped consolidate discrete pockets of Canadian research and practice.
Since 1982, Taylor has held various executive positions and portfolios with the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education. Recipient of several British Council Visitor awards, he has developed partnerships with the University of Surrey and the Institute of Education, University of London. He was also research associate with the Centre for Excellence in Work-based Learning for Educational Professionals spearheaded by the UK Institute of Education.
His policy contributions include co-founding the National Indigenous Literacy Association of Canada, which brought Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal researchers together. He co-founded the Commonwealth Association for the Education and Training of Adults and was elected its first North American representative. He also founded the Education Research Unit on Adult and Workplace Learning at the University of Ottawa and has represented Canada on national task forces addressing paid educational leave and issues of immigration.
Taylor has been invited as a subject matter expert to assist such organizations as the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, Ontario Ministry of Education, Office of Literacy and Essential Skills, Ontario College of Teachers, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and National Judicial Institute. He has also served in a project advisory capacity for other national organizations, including Canadian Council on Learning, Centre for Workplace Skills, Canadian Association for the Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition, and the Centre for Literacy (Quebec).
In 2004, Taylor helped initiate the first formal Mentoring and Coaching Program at the University of Ottawa for new professors and professors encountering difficulties in their teaching responsibilities and has since mentored more than 20 faculty members.