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No Single Story refuses the flattening of Asian American, and Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander educators into a single narrative. Through vivid accounts of migration, language reclamation, disability, intergenerational care, racialization, and leadership, this extraordinary collection reveals educators as knowledge holders, culture bearers, and architects of just futures. Fierce, tender, and urgently needed, it expands what counts as expertise—and challenges us to prepare, support, and stand beside the educators who shape children’s earliest understandings of who they are, whose stories matter, and where they belong.
—Mariana Souto-Manning, PhD, President and Irving and Neison Harris President’s Chair, Graduate School in Child Development, Erikson Institute
No Single Story is a much-needed deep dive into the complexities of ethnic and cultural identity development. It is a powerful and moving read. The authors’ stories and reflections explore the intertwining dynamics of their lived experiences as individuals, part of a family, and part of a community, as well as the impact of the historic and current social-political contexts in which those lived experiences took place. Furthermore, the authors share how their work as early childhood educators affected their understanding of themselves and how this new understanding influenced their teaching. I wholeheartedly recommend it to people who want to explore their own identity journeys more fully.
—Louise Derman-Sparks, Anti-Bias Education Author, Teacher, and Consultant
No Single Story is a primer on belonging, authentically claiming that one’s own cultural ways of being are deeply rooted in past generations and projected forward as guidance to future generations living in constantly changing environments. Each author offers an intimate perspective on the effort required for healthy reclamation of one’s own space and how to use that centeredness for the greater good.
—Jerlean Daniel, Former Executive Director of NAEYC, and Co-Chair, NAEYC Black Caucus Interest Forum
No Single Story embodies the developmental principle of universality without uniformity. These educators’ stories invite us to listen without reducing them to labels and help us appreciate the distinctive ways each person brings who they are to the care and education of young children.
—Junlei Li, Saul Zaentz Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education