Who was Naragasuran and how is he linked to the Festival of Lights? In a humorous skit by the Asian Languages and Cultures Academic Group on 24 October 2018, Hindu mythologies and the origins of Deepavali were given a 21st century twist in an outreach to bring Tamil language and culture to the NIE community. Delightful stories, colourful dances, pulsating music, exciting games and delicious food were all part of the eclectic programme. Professor Low Ee Ling, Dean of Teacher Education, was the guest of honour.
The skit, which took a month of rehearsals, was the brainchild of Dr A Ra Sivakumaran, Associate Professor and Assistant Head of NIE’s Tamil Language and Culture Division. “Our objective was to create an interesting and immersive experience where the audience could feel the spirit of Deepavali in the air. Even our friends from other ethnic groups found the event to be highly engaging.” Dr Siva said. The venue was filled with some 200 guests, including friends and families of students as well as members from other faculties. | Read More |
“As a language teacher, my responsibility is not only to teach the language, but also to instil the culture and values of the language. I believe it is necessary for language teachers to go beyond classrooms and textbooks to find more engaging ways to teach from our hearts. Only then will our respective languages survive and flourish,” Dr Siva shared.
Spotlight on Dr Siva
Dr Siva has been an active champion for Tamil language education in Singapore since joining NIE in 1995. He helped to establish Singapore’s first Bachelor of Arts (Education) programme for Tamil Language Specialisation at NIE in 2016, and made his mark on the local Tamil education scene through his contributions on many national committees. These include the Tamil Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Resource Panel on Pedagogy and Teacher Training; Steering Committee for Primary and Secondary in Tamil Language Instructional Packages; Steering Committee for the Development of Written Tamil Corpus; Project Evaluation Committee for the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism; and GCE A-Level Tamil Language Syllabus Revision Steering Committee. Since 2006, he has been serving as the Tamil Language consultant for the Singapore MOE’s Primary and Secondary Education Curriculum Planning Division.
An award-winning educator and researcher, Dr Siva has authored numerous publications, delivered keynote lectures and presented his research at conferences and universities around the world.
“Dr Siva is a dedicated educator and a keen learner whom I’ve worked with since the 1980s. More recently, he was the supervisor for my PhD thesis. His research knowledge was enormously rich and I had benefitted a lot from his guidance. He is always concerned about the quality of Tamil teachers and does his best to ensure that NIE pre-service teachers are competent and well prepared before they are posted to their schools. Dr Siva is always willing to serve the teaching fraternity as well as the Tamil community at large.” Dr SP Jeyarajadas Pandian, principal master teacher (Tamil Language) and former student