Educationalist and former president of the Australian Association for the Teaching of English.
Garth Boomer was apppointed as the South Australian representative on the board of the Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) in 1990, as a replacement for John Morris (after Morris's appointment as CEO of the Film Finance Corporation). The ACTF was then in the midst of developing Lift Off, a radical departure from conventional children's programming.
Patricia Edgar, executive producer of Lift Off and other ACTF programs of the period, says in her memoir Bloodbath:
Garth was unwavering in his enthusiasm for Lift-Off. He had become disillusioned by the education system, by the curriculum which was taught in schools and by the system of measurement of student success. He was disappointed with the performance of many teachers within classrooms, but he was not cynical and he had not given up. He championed what he called the 'negotiated curriculum', one actively involving students in their own learning plans and techniques. Garth was prepared to use his influence with the Curriculum Corporation of Australia to persuade all directors of curriculum to endorse the Lift-Off project, and it was a measure of their regard for him that they agreed to back it financially with a strong publishing program. (p.247)
Boomer was heavily involved in the think tank-style discussion by which the basic philosophy behind Lift Off was initially developed (Edgar, pp.248-51), but also had a concrete role in the scripting: says Edgar, 'Garth Boomer loved the program and contributed as a writer; he wrote lyrics for many of the songs and all the dialogue for the Backsaks. These puppet characters, though linguistically advanced, were a metaphor for infancy' (pp.262-63).
Around the time of the Lift Off launch, Boomer was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. During his treatment, he collaborated with Chris Neal (composer, who had worked on Lift Off) and Edgar to create the stage musical Lift Off Live. Boomer died before the completion of the project, which was completed with the assistance of Chris Anastassiades, Sue Amoddio, and Robert Greenberg.
Boomer also wrote a wide range of pedagogical books in his role as an educationalist.
