Student Spotlight: Mannu Sikka

Ed.S. in Educational Leadership, '17

When did you decide to pursue education and what drew you to this field? 

Initially, I started college as an English major/Women’s Studies minor, but it was during my sophomore year that I decided to change to education. There were some key players during my educational journey who inspired this change, and I decided I wanted to give back to future students. I graduated from DePaul in 2006 and enrolled in UC Davis’ Masters credential program. Then, I did my student teaching in Sacramento and got my first job at a Title 1 school in San Jose.

At what point did you decide to study at NLU and specifically in the degree program you're pursuing?

After living in California, I moved back to the Chicago area and worked at a charter school called Learn, as an education leader coordinator and interventionist. I never really thought I’d go into administration and believed my end game was teaching. I think when you start off in your career, you’re excited and passionate about it, but as professionals we grow, evolve, and pursue new challenges to sustain our passions in the field. I found a new passion in educational leadership. Even though I really liked my coordinator role, I really wanted to join a teaching and learning team and move into content development and curriculum and instruction. I didn’t necessarily want to become a principal, but knew I needed the endorsement as a stepping stone into leadership positions.

Whenever a colleague reaches out to me about pursuing other degrees, I tell them to go to NLU. It works well for working professionals, you form strong bonds with your classmates and professors, and you get to do a deep dive into your practice with feedback from people who hold different perspectives. My cohort had social workers, elementary, high school, and special education teachers from public, charter, and private school systems across Chicagoland. The knowledge and varied experiences they brought to class discussions truly enhanced my learning experience. 

What is your current role and how did you end up there? 

When I graduated from NLU in 2017, I joined Berkeley School District 87, where one of my NLU professors had taught. I heard they had an instructional coach opening, which felt like a natural step for me. Currently, I am a consultant for the Consortium of Educational Change (CEC). Here, my work focuses on expanding the instructional capacity of teachers. My responsibilities include working on webinars for instructional coaches and building a CEC Twitter presence to engage educators. I also joined ASCD as an emerging leader and write blogs locally and nationally. Through these roles, I’ve been able to exercise my passion for helping students. 

Talk about who you were when you started as an NCE student and where you are now. How has NLU shaped your perspective on education?

NLU expanded my perspectives and helped me step up my game as an educator. In my program, we explored the dynamic facets of education. Teachers are in front of children every day and responsible for making decisions on best leading student learning in a complex environment. It's a vulnerable profession, and it can be tough to admit when we make mistakes. But if you can take a step back and realize you can do better and choose to do better in the future, I think that means you're evolving as an educator. NLU helped me understand that. Through my courses, I realized I have intrinsic biases, as we all do, and I learned how to be aware of them and how teachers contribute to the grand system. NLU empowered me to ask difficult questions and have difficult conversations for the sake of myself and my students.

How do you measure success in your role? 

As a teacher, my success was measured by my students' progress in the classroom. Now, I work for a non-profit that focuses on building instructional capacity, so our clients' successes are measures of my success. However, we have the common goal of supporting student learning. If our work is expanding the instructional capacity of our clients, then students are benefiting in the long run. 

What would you tell an aspiring educator? 

I always have three pieces of advice for beginning teachers: first, it’s okay that you don’t know everything. Educators are seen and perceived as knowers of all knowledge, but it’s okay not to know. A solution for that is number two: continue the learning. After you’ve finished your program, it’s essential to keep fresh and stay current in education. Number three, love your students and make space for empathy. You’re going to have hard days, but it’ll be worth it.