Harpreet Swaich was born in the Patiala district of Punjab to a farming family. Her father was a teacher, and her grandfather was a tax officer. Education was always emphasized within her family. From a young age, Swaich’s grandfather would encourage her to study by bringing home books from the University and selecting excerpts from the prominent Punjabi language literary magazine Preet Lari for her to read. This encouragement, coupled with that from her mother, inspired Swaich to pursue a career in teaching. Swaich became impassioned by teaching, to ensure her students were confident in themselves and their abilities. In 2009 Swaich immigrated to Canada, but she often shifted back and forth from Punjab until early retirement in 2014, when she settled in Richmond, BC. Swaich noticed from her walks in the neighbourhood and parks that Punjabi children could speak Punjabi but often failed to read or write it. She ultimately came out of retirement to start teaching Punjabi again for the community. Initially she taught students out of her house, but after coming into contact with PLEA’s Balwant Sanghera, she was interviewed and hired for a teaching position. Swaich tells us that her approach to teaching Punjabi is student-centred: she recognizes the importance of keeping students interested and engaged through novel ideas and culture. In her words, “it isn’t just about teaching students the history, we have to teach them about the culture and their relationship to it.”
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