Ron Faris – Brief Biography
Ron was a high school teacher whose first adult literacy experience was in a factory classroom in
London, England in 1962. After completing doctoral studies in adult education at the University of
Toronto he eventually became an Executive Director in British Columbia’s Ministry of Advanced
Education where he was responsible for policy and program development related to adult liter
acy,
special education, and community development.
In 1987 he became Associate Executive Director of the National Literacy Secretariat. Over the past decade he has been a freelance consultant regarding development of place-based learning communities and related adult literacy provision across Canada, and in Australia, Latvia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
In 2005 he was a member of theNational Advisory Committee on Adult Literacy and Essential Skills (Bradshaw Committee) and in 2006 he chaired the CMEC national Adult Literacy Forum.
He recently acted as evaluator of the South Island Learning Community project, and is now an advisor on the three related prison literacy, workplace literacy, and First Nation community literacy initiatives.
