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Educational psychology professor George Georgiou was recently recognized with the ß÷ßäÉçÇø Immigrant Impact Award in the category of career and academic contributions. We spoke with Professor Georgiou about the meaning of this recognition, the impact of his work and what continues to inspire him.

This award celebrates the contributions immigrants make to ß÷ßäÉçÇø’s academic and professional life. Looking back on your journey, what does receiving this recognition mean to you?

It means that the effort put into further advancing reading research in ß÷ßäÉçÇø and Canada more broadly is recognized not only by the school authorities but also by the government.

Your work in educational psychology has advanced literacy and our understanding of learning disabilities. Could you share one or two initiatives you’re most proud of, and how they’ve made a difference for students, educators, or communities?

The reading intervention program we developed has now been made freely available by ß÷ßäÉçÇø Education to all schools in ß÷ßäÉçÇø, and more than 100,000 children have benefited from it. The same program is also used by some school divisions in other provinces in Canada, across the whole country of Belize and by some slam schools in India with great results.

Finally, I am very proud of the work with ß÷ßäÉçÇø Education and Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in mandating screening and intervention in the province and for developing a fully operational system of literacy screeners and data processing for kindergarten to Grade 5 children in English, Francophone and French immersion schools. We are the first province in Canada to achieve this for the benefit of our students and at the service of our teachers.

What continues to inspire your work in educational psychology, and what difference do you hope your research and initiatives will make in the years ahead?

I could list several sources of inspiration, but the root of them is probably the motto of our university, “Quaecumque vera” (Whatsoever things are true). I research because I want to discover what is “true.” Through this research, I aspire to minimize reading difficulties by establishing policy and structures that allow schools to prevent reading difficulties from happening; and, if some children develop reading difficulties, be able to provide schools with an effective intervention program that helps them get back on track.