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Bringing Your Whole Self to the Classroom: A Native Hawaiian Perspective on Identity in Early Childhood Education

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Nicol Russell

Our identities shape everything—how we speak to children, what we notice, what we celebrate, what we challenge, what we believe is possible. In this excerpt from the upcoming NAEYC book No Single Story: Amplifying the Voices of Asian American and Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Early Educators, Native Hawaiian educator Nicol Russell describes the disconnect she experiences when the early childhood education field claims to honor identity but does not make room for the identities of educators. Her story shows that more work needs to be done so that every educator has agency and voice in their setting.

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Photograph: courtesy of the author
Copyright © 2026 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See permissions and reprints online at NAEYC.org/resources/permissions.

Audience: Student (higher education), Teacher

Age: Early Primary, Infant/Toddler, Kindergarten, Preschool

Topics: Other Topics, Equity, YC

Nicol Russell

Nicol Russell, EdD, is the chief academic officer at Teacher Strategies in Phoenix, Arizona. Her greatest ambition in life is to leave a legacy of love in action. Her professional interests are grounded in the ethics of knowledge—how we know what we know, and how we use that knowledge responsibly in systems that affect people (children and adults).