Education in paradise [Elektronische Ressource] : learning for profitable employment among the Old Order Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA / Phyllis Ann Lachman Siebert

EDUCATION IN PARADISE:
LEARNING FOR PROFITABLE EMPLOYMENT
AMONG THE OLD ORDER AMISH
OF LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, USA










Phyllis Ann Lachman Siebert




Heidelberg
2005



EDUCATION IN PARADISE:
LEARNING FOR PROFITABLE EMPLOYMENT
AMONG THE OLD ORDER AMISH
OF LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, USA






Inaugural Dissertation
zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde
der Fakultät
für Verhaltens- und Empirische Kulturwissenschaften
der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität
Heidelberg








vorgelegt von
Phyllis Ann Lachman Siebert
B.A., M.Ed.
aus Shillington, Pennsylvania, USA




2005






Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Jochen Kaltschmid
Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Baumann



i
Live to learn — Learn to live
School motto
of the former
Shillington High School



FOREWARD


This dissertation was conceived as a bridge between my place of origin and
my current residence near Heidelberg. Until high-school graduation I lived in a
small town located in Berks County in southeastern Pennsylvania; since my
marriage I have made my permanent home in Germany. After moving to the
region close to the Palatinate I heard German-dialect words that carried me
back to my roots.
At Christmas and birthday times when secrets were very important my
maternal grandparents spoke "Pennsylvania Dutch", a distorted form of
German. Having heard too little of the language, I never learned to understand
and speak it. Nevertheless, I do remember a few single words. It was not until I
moved to Heidelberg that I once again heard potatoes called Grummbiere
rather than Kartoffeln in German. If one so will, that was the ignition for my
curiosity concerning the Amish. Being an educator, I thought it impossible that
people willingly choose to limit their education. How are they able to survive
in a modern world?
And so I had my topic, but there were many hurdles still to be traversed.
Family demands had to be balanced with academic ambitions, and serious
illness had to be overcome before the final copy was complete. The challenges
were met, and the experience was very rewarding. To all who made this
undertaking of mine possible I wish to say thank you.
Thanking the Amish by name would be incongruous with their habits, for
they generally rebuff being singled out for special attention. Nevertheless, I
wish to express a very special Denki to all my Amish confidants and their
extended families and friends who shared their daily routines with me and
sacrificed their time to assist me in learning about their culture. Without their
cooperation my efforts would have been unsuccessful. ii
A particular thank-you goes to the Ebys, a Mennonite family who were my
hosts during my stay at the Pequea Tourist Farm near Intercourse in Lancaster
County. They gave me many practical tips about the Amish way of doing
things, and they graciously introduced me to their Amish neighbors. From
them I was taught much about accepting life as it is and death when it comes.
Having never had close contact with handicapped people, it was an enrichening
learning experience for me to be associated with Melody, who was severely
physically disabled and learning impaired, during the last six months of her
twenty-year life.
Another thank-you is extended to my cousin Sue and her husband Tim for
all their help in getting me set up in the area and especially for finding an old
car for me to drive during my six-month stay. Even though it repeatedly left me
stuck on a country road, the car turned out to be an asset: the Amish loved it
because it had "character". In fact, they even named the car Freddy after their
old horse that was balky and cantankerous too.
In addition I thank my immediate family for their ceaseless support,
encouragement, and coercion as needed and for their practical help in
producing the final manuscript.
I am greatly indebted to Prof. Dr. Fletcher DuBois for his continual interest
and support. I wish to thank all the faculty members in the department of
Erziehungswissenschaft; I profited greatly from their lectures and seminars.
Last but not least I say Danke schön to my advisor, Prof. Dr. J. Kaltschmid, for
his understanding, his patience, and his generousness in accepting my unusual
topic which truly does not have a commonplace theme.












iii

One looks back with appreciation to the
brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who
touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so
much necessary raw material, but warmth is the
vital element for the growing plant and for the
soul of the child.
– Carl Jung
The Gifted Child




DEDICATION



The importance of the teacher's role in learning is undeniable.
Doing this study gave me cause to reflect on my own student career
from kindergarten through elementary and high schools to the university level.
I had the good fortune of having been instructed and inspired
by countless women and men who were outstanding in their field.
They are too numerous to be named individually;
hence I wish to acknowledge them in general for each alma mater.


I dedicate this dissertation to my

Mother,

who was my very first teacher,

and to my

Former Teachers and Professors

at

Shillington Elementary School
Governor Mifflin Junior High School Senior High School
Elizabethtown College
National Louis University – Heidelberg
iv
Train up a child in the way he should go: and
when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
The Holy Bible



TABLE OF CONTENTS


1. INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................1
1.1. Research Subjects ...................................................................................2
1.2. Research Objectives................................................................................4
1.3. Literature.................................................................................................5
1.4. Research Procedure8
1.5. Geography and Demography..................................................................9

2. HISTORY OF THE ANABAPTISTS.........................................................15
2.1. Roots in the Protestant Reformation.....................................................15
2.2. Beginnings in Zurich ............................................................................16
2.3. The Schleitheim Confession ................................................................18
2.4. Mennonites...........................................................................................19
2.5. The Dordrecht Confession of Faith ......................................................20
2.6. Founding of the Amish .........................................................................21
2.7. The Reformation and Education...........................................................22
2.8. Amish Yesterday and Today.................................................................25

3. EDUCATION IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA .....27
3.1. William Penn and the Quakers .............................................................27
3.2. Beginnings in Pennsylvania..................................................................28
3.3. Education in Colonial Times ................................................................30
3.4. Early Pennsylvania Schools32
3.4.1. Quaker [English] Schools ...........................................................33
3.4.2. Sectarian [German] Schools........................................................35
3.4.3. Secular [Rural] Schools...............................................................39
3.5. Pennsylvania Schools During the National and Reconstruction
Period....................................................................................................44
3.6. Twentieth-century Education................................................................54
3.7. A Chronicle of Amish Schooling in Pennsylvania ...............................65

4. THE AMISH WORLD................................................................................72
4.1. The Home .............................................................................................75
4.1.1. The Family ..................................................................................76
4.1.2. Parental Roles..............................................................................78
4.1.3. Children's Chores ........................................................................81
4.1.4. The House 82
4.1.5. Garments and Hair