Vice Principal Academic Affairs

Trudy-Ann Barrett, Ph.D

Dr. Trudy-Ann Barrett assumed the role of Vice Principal of Academic Affairs at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA) in October 2018, subsequent to serving as Senior Lecturer and Lecturer at the institution for five years. In this capacity, she is the College’s chief academic officer, with direct responsibility for academic leadership and initiative toward the development and implementation of curricula and programmes that are relevant to the needs of the Caribbean. Within this remit, she is also accountable for the effective planning and efficient delivery of the academic programmes to ensure they are of a superior quality and to preserve the College’s status of being the premier arts training institution in the Anglophone Caribbean.

Dr. Barrett is a creative and driven educator who has had a longstanding relationship with the College in various capacities – as student, lecturer and now administrator – all of which offer diverse perspectives on the strengths and challenges of the institution and a sense of the measures that are needed to overcome the latter. She brings to the post significant local and international experience in academia and a solid track record of achievement. She has over sixteen years of experience teaching at both the secondary and tertiary levels of the Jamaican education sector, in addition to her former role as the Cultural Coordinator at the University of Technology, Jamaica. Dr. Barrett is a Commonwealth Scholar with a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and an MA in Art Education from the Ohio State University in the USA. She also holds undergraduate degrees in Fine Arts and Education from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts and the Mico Teachers College, respectively. These qualifications are complemented by her commitment to art curriculum development and the promotion of a culture of excellence through the provision of a safe, stimulating and empowering environment that optimises the student experience.

With respect to curriculum development, Dr. Barrett has co-authored a textbook: Resource and Technology for Secondary Schools and has collaborated on local initiatives led by the Ministry of Education, the most recent being her involvement as Master Trainer for the National Standards Curriculum. She has also reviewed the CSEC Visual Arts syllabus for the Caribbean Examination Council and reviewed various international arts-based publications for the International Journal of Arts Education and Arts/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal.  She is currently co-authoring a text on the emancipatory role of the arts in education in Jamaica, which by extension addresses the paucity of documented material on the history of art curriculum development in Jamaica. Dr. Barrett has participated and presented extensively at international arts conferences in New Zealand, Ireland, Hungary, USA, the UK and in Jamaica. As an artist, she has exhibited in Jamaica, England and the USA. She has served as adjudicator for the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition.

In her role as Vice Principal, Dr. Barrett is especially looking forward to defining the next era of leadership by steering efforts toward the expansion of the culture of research-based practice at the institution to enhance the EMCVPA legacy.

Portfolio:

  • Chair, Examinations, Assessment and Curriculum Committee
  • Education Board of Studies
  • Primary College contact for the University Council of Jamaica
  • School of Dance
  • School of Drama
  • School of Music
  • School of Visual Arts
  • School of Arts Management and Humanities
  • School of Continuing Education and Allied Programmes
  • Registry
  • Library