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 Governor Mifflin 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 Procedure ................................................................................8 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 Schools..................................................................32 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 Hairstyles .............................................................85 4.1.6. Transportation.............................................................................91 v 4.2. The Church ...........................................................................................95 4.2.1. The Worship Service...................................................................99 4.2.2. The Church Leaders..................................................................100 4.2.3. The Language............................................................................103 4.2.4. The Rituals................................................................................105 4.2.4.1. Ordination....................................................................105 4.2.4.2. Communion and Foot-washing ...................................106 4.2.4.3. Baptism........................................................................108 4.2.4.4. Weddings.....................................................................109