Manca
Sustarsic

Manca Sustarsic is a PhD candidate in education with a concentration in educational foundations in the College of Education. She is a passionate educator with a commitment to cultivating critically minded, culturally sensitive and empathetic members of society. Sustarsic has teaching experience at the K–12 and college levels. In 2022, she taught an advanced undergraduate course, Education in American Society, in which students explored the historical, political and sociocultural contexts of education. She ensured that her curriculum and lessons drew connections to education history, culture-based learning and current issues in education in Hawaiʻi. Sustarsic’s teaching philosophy centers around fostering learners’ critical consciousness, collaboration and respect for diversity. She strives to create a classroom environment inclusive of a diverse group of learners who each contribute to our intellectual growth and cultural sensitivity with their unique experiences and perspectives. After taking Sustarsic’s class, students expressed they felt one step closer to becoming the teachers they wanted to be. They appreciated her passion for education, and her ability to make complex topics engaging.