Daycare Inclusion Support Plan: Punjabi Heritage Background Essay

Daycare Inclusion Support Plan: Punjabi Heritage Background

In order to most successfully begin the inclusion process of a 3- to 5-year-old Punjabi child into a standard daycare facility located in the Brisbane Metropolitan Area, one must first understand all the facets of the Punjabi culture that may prove relevant in making the child's transition into the daycare one that is as smooth as possible. In order to begin the process of inclusion, facility workers must not only understand the child's background and heritage, but also the factors of the Punjabi culture that may be easily included into the workings of the daycare facility, such as food and music, in order to make the child more comfortable, which in turn will allow the child to assimilate more quickly. In fully understanding the Punjabi heritage, as well as resources that exist within Brisbane to aid the understanding of this heritage, a more accurate and reliable support plan for the child's inclusion into daycare can be written.

The Punjabi Heritage

In beginning to gain a basic knowledge of the Punjabi heritage, certain aspects of life that may be emulated within the daycare center need to be understood. Punjabi is a term associated to individuals coming from Punjab, a region of South Asia. The Punjabi people are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia, and they have long been identified as a group whose identity relies heavily on culture and language.Both Punjabi culture and language, stemming back to the beginning of the modern era allow the Punjabi heritage to be associated as one that is one of the oldest and richest in world history, and while many individuals may not be familiar with this culture, resources and knowledge are widely available, and can be utilized to aid in the integration of a Punjabi child into a standard Australian daycare facility setting.

To begin, the Punjabi language is spoken by 88 million native speakers around the world, making it approximately the tenth most widely spoken language in the world (Harrison, 343). While many contemporary Punjabi individuals may speak a language other than Punjabi, the language is used highly within the home and especially within religious practice, in which the language is considered a sacred entity (Kortenaar, 158). As the Punjabi culture is rooted in language, so is it rooted in religion. Punjabis generally treat their religious identity as synonymous with their ethnic identity and generally belong to three major religions: Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism (UKPHA, 1).

While language and religion may be more difficult roots of assimilation within a different society, certain facets of the Punjabi culture prove to be much more accessible and easily-utilized, such as cuisine, dance and music. Food from the Punjab region of South Asia boasts a diverse….....