On 15 November 2024, Abirami D/O Kanan (more affectionately known to the children as Teacher Abi) from Little Olive Tree (Ang Mo Kio) was honoured with the prestigious Leading Foundation Teacher Award (LFTA).
Administered by the National Institute of Education (NIE) Psychology and Child & Human Development Academic Group, the award celebrates outstanding practitioners in the fields of early childhood and special needs education. This award highlights Teacher Abi’s exceptional commitment to removing barriers to learning for our children with additional needs in our preschools.
This year also marks another important milestone for Teacher Abi - it marks her 10th year in the early childhood sector. When asked when and how she developed an interest in early childhood and special needs education, she often jokes about being an “accidental teacher” who kept finding herself in the classroom despite attempts to leave the industry.
In the initial years of her journey, she would even get exasperated by herself for not being able to step away. Eventually, she stopped trying to leave teaching, content that “teaching chose [her] before [she] chose it”. Today, she is committed to foster environments where every child can thrive.
While most people view disability as something that is a distant problem, Teacher Abi views the world through radically different lens. Instead of viewing disability as a series of limitations within the persons affected, she sees that the world – the environment, curriculum or lesson designs as being limited, becoming barriers for persons with disability from thriving in our world.
As she works with her young charges, she considers various elements such as noise levels, accessibility of learning materials or even group sizes so that the learning experiences can support all students. Beyond that, she also strives to empower children to advocate for themselves (see this video she co-produced with Mithran, one of our children with visual impairment, to create awareness on visual impairment and the way they perceive the world).
Amongst the many projects she participates in, she also pays attention to the efforts her colleagues make to create inclusive environments in her Centre and highlights those practices in a quarterly edition of “Teacher Spotlight”.
Making Inclusion Work which started as a monthly internal coaching session will also expand into an awareness and advocacy initiative in 2025. Through her efforts, she hopes that children under her care would not merely be coping but can thrive in an inclusive learning environment. In time to come, she hopes that the children that she works with will grow up in a world where kindness and inclusion are the norm.
In receiving the LFTA, Teacher Abi joins an esteemed group of educators who are shaping the future of Singapore’s education system. The award’s significance was underlined by the words of Mr. Lim Siong Guan, Co-Founder of the Leading Foundation, who highlighted the importance of nurturing every child’s unique talents during their formative years.
“Our nation can only be the best it can be if Singaporeans have the opportunity to be the best they can be according to their talents and abilities,” - Mr. Lim Siong Guan
This applies just as much to every child in kindergarten as to everyone who has special needs.
Teacher Abirami’s work reflects this vision and also the vision that Little Olive Tree holds onto – that our children will grow and glow to flourish like olive trees. We are immensely proud of the recognition that Teacher Abi received and also for all the committed, loving and competent teachers who make the work in our schools possible.
May God continue to establish the work of our hands!
Comments