By Mason Burley, Syracuse University
Hello! My name is Mason Burley, and I am a rising junior studying Inclusive Adolescent Education & History and minoring in Atrocity Studies and the Practices of Social Justice at Syracuse University. I have a passion for educating students of all backgrounds about the importance of historical events and how society can learn and grow from previous decisions in order to create a more informed, literate, and understanding populace.
One of the most impactful experiences of my academic career was traveling throughout rural and urban areas of Kenya, teaching Kenyan students about American and European history, geography and geology, and written and spoken English. I was fortunate to learn from highly trained Kenyan educators about how Kenyans view education, the importance they stress on educating not only in the school but also at home, and the process of obtaining a teaching credential through the Universities of Kenya. This experience ignited a deep interest in learning about education systems abroad and using this information to better both my teaching philosophy and pedagogy. Attached below are some of my fondest memories of Nairobi, Embu, and Ugweri, Kenya.
Outside of travel, I enjoy writing, reading, and watching/producing movies (shout out DKA!). At Syracuse, I work as a Preservation Assistant within Ernest Stevenson Bird Library, I am a member of the Student Government Association as a Board of Elections Commissioner, a member and historian of Delta Kappa Alpha, a member of Kappa Delta Pi, and a School of Education Peer Advisor (amongst other things. My calendar hates to see me coming). I love all things food and music related and will never turn down watching a football or basketball game. Let’s Go ‘Cuse!
This semester, I am grateful to be participating in Syracuse University’s Exploring Central Europe abroad program which is centered in the beautiful and historically rich Polish city of Wrocław. I have the opportunity to further my studies of international education systems as I will be teaching history in a Polish secondary school. This placement is where my research, funded by the Tyler Center, will begin to form. Over the course of my 10 weeks abroad, I will be traveling to Chișinău, Moldova; Vilnius, Lithuania; and, the cities of Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, and Iași, Romania. My research is grounded in understanding and dissecting how the centralized government of the Soviet Union used tactics including politically-motivated violence, atrocity and brutalization, and ideology to mold its citizens’ thoughts and decisions via the education sector. It is my goal to uncover how and why education was used as a means for indoctrination while simultaneously investigating the lasting impact these policies have had on former Soviet Socialist Republics’ views on education and the policy that shapes it, curriculum and pedagogical development, and student-to-faculty relationships.
The bulk of this research will be done by interviewing local educators, school administrators, and government officials. It is here that I actually learn about the lasting impact of policies that many of these professionals have endured through implementation to abandonment. Because the Soviet Union was so sprawling, I hope to “localize” the narrative and give everyday civilians the opportunity to share their stories. Alongside these interviews, I will be doing archival work at various national museums and libraries focusing on the background information and timelines of the policies.
I want to thank Florida State University and the Tyler Center for their gracious contribution to my educational enrichment. I am excited to embark on this journey! 🙂
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