Matthew Garrett, associate professor of music education, director of choirs and coordinator of undergraduate studies in music and music education, was recently appointed interim director of the University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education (UCITE). In that role, he succeeds Sarah de Swart, who is now director of the Faculty Development Center.
Over the past two years, Garrett has helped to deliver to UCITE programming, having served as faculty facilitator for the Learning Fellows program, and as co-creator of a new teacher education initiative with the Learning Fellows 2.0 program.
As interim director of UCITE, Garrett will draw upon his background in education and learning pedagogy with more than 20 years of classroom teaching experience to help faculty members explore the art and science of teaching. UCITE will continue to offer the Learning Fellows, Glennan Fellows and topical lunchtime seminars through the 2017-18 academic year. In addition, UCITE is launching new collaborative initiatives with other university centers this fall.
Originally from South Carolina, Garrett earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in music education from Florida State University. Before joining the Case Western Reserve faculty in 2009, he was a music educator in Central Florida and Southeast Massachusetts public schools at the middle and high school levels for more than 10 years. He continues to work with students and teachers in public schools across the country, as a clinician and guest conductor.
Garrett’s research and scholarship explores the development and usage of critical thinking skills in music classrooms and LGBTQ+ issues in music education through his research. He has been interviewed regarding his work on developing critical thinking skills for articles in the national music education journal Teaching Music. His strategies for incorporating critical thinking strategies in choral music rehearsal environments were published as part of a music text series from Hal Leonard and McGraw Hill Education titled “Voices in Concert.”