Embracing the spirit of learning beyond the classroom

Going above and beyond for her students

 

It may have been many years since she entered the education sector, but 57-year-old Ms Selvarani remains passionate in teaching. She finds tremendous joy in imparting her skills and knowledge in the arts and Tamil language to the younger generation. Despite her wealth of knowledge, Ms Selvarani believes that there are many areas in which she can still learn and improve.

 

She is constantly thinking of utilising various methods to engage children’s interest in these subjects, and it was not long ago when she had the idea of writing and illustrating a children’s book by herself.

 

"In Singapore, children rarely get to read books with stories that are set in the local context. Thus, I want to do something for them. It would be great if they have access to children’s books that are written in the Tamil language too," Ms Selvarani explained.

 

With this idea in mind, Ms Selvarani searched online to see if there were such courses and went on attend a National Silver Academy (NSA) course titled Children's Books Illustration conducted by Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Through the hands-on course, Ms Selvarani was able to learn how to create and draw her own cartoons. She also learnt the fundamentals of illustrations such as picture book layout, dummies, tear sheets and roughs, allowing her to be one step closer to achieving her dream. idea in mind, Ms Selvarani searched online to see if there were such courses and went on attend a National Silver Academy (NSA) course titled Children's Books Illustration conducted by Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Through the hands-on course, Ms Selvarani was able to learn how to create and draw her own cartoons. She also learnt the fundamentals of illustrations such as picture book layout, dummies, tear sheets and roughs, allowing her to be one step closer to achieving her dream.

 

Learning: Putting it into practice

 

Being a dedicated teacher, she wanted to take up modern calligraphy to improve her artistic skills and impart the newly learnt skill to her students. This motivated Ms Selvarani to attend another NSA course titled Modern Calligraphy by Family Central, which equipped her with relevant skills in the arts. The skills learnt became not only useful for her lessons but also in her daily life as well.

 

As Ms Selvarani prefers crafting and gifting handmade items rather than buying them, she is now able to design celebratory cards for the people around her using her new-found skill. Moving forward, she plans to incorporate modern calligraphy into her design.

 

"It makes the gift much more meaningful when I do it myself, and it makes my life happier and more fulfilling when the recipients appreciate my handmade gifts," Ms Selvarani remarked.

 

The importance of upskilling

 

Although Ms Selvarani may be teaching languages and the arts, she had also signed up for computer courses as she thought that improving her IT skills can help to enhance effectiveness in her work.

 

Ms Selvarani felt that she had benefitted greatly from the NSA courses and this led her to introduce NSA to her friends, and encouraged them to pursue their interests.

 

"The thought of being able to learn something new keeps me excited, and we shouldn’t waste our time but to learn as much as we can," Ms Selvarani said.

 

When asked about her future plans, Ms Selvarani shared that she is keen to take up more art courses and hopes she can be ready to become an author and illustrator of a children’s book one day.

 

**Special thanks to Ms Selvarani who accepted our interview, we wish her all the very best in her lifelong learning journey.

 

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