4 DOCUMENT RESUME ED 104 761 95 SO 008 241 AUTHOR, Hostetler, John A.; And Others TITLE Cultural Transmission and Instrumental Adaptation to Social Change: Lancaster Mennonite High School in Titansition. INSTITUTION Temple Univ., Philadelphia, Pa. SPONS AGENCY National Center for Educational Research and Development (DHEW/OE), Washington; D.C. ,BUREAU NO BR-0-20651 PUB DATE Oct 74 GRANT OEG-0-72-1396 ,NOTE 274p. EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$13.32 PLUS POSTAGE 'b' 2 DESCRIPTOR *Culture Conflict; *Educational Anthropology; Educational Research; Ethnic Groups; Group ;Unity; Individual Development; PerSonal Values; Religious Cultural Groups; *School Role;.Secondary Education; *Social Change; *Socialization; Social Values; Sociocultural Patterns IDENTIFIERS *Mennonites ABSTRACT This. study of a Mennonite community and a sample of its students attending both a Mennonite and a public high schdol examines the educational process. Research objectives were to (1) construct an ethnography of the Minnonite school in order to understand the process of culturaistransmission,(2) discover the patternS of cognition of thestudy.yarticipanis, (3) ascertain the function of informal networks and ethnic identity in the transmission of culture, and (4) provide inddCtive generalizations. Information gathered by participant observa-0.on; formal and informal interviews, and various measures, of ethnicity and cognitive pei-ception documents the process of change due to passage of time and school orientation. °Findings about value orientation, normative activities, evaluation of ethnic membership, religious Orthodoxy, self-esteem, social networks, learning potential, and personality types are presented in the report.The impact of the Mennonite school on student attitudes-is found to be most influential in the areas of normative, preferred or accepted, activities. The sch,o81 appears to have minimal impact pn student attitudes toward ethnicity, orthodoxy, and self-concept. Statistical and descriptive dat:from the study are included in the report. pH; Ale 4 Final Report Project No. RO-20651, Grant Nc. DHEW OEG-0-72-1396 Cultural Transmission and Instrumental Adaplation to Social Change: Lancaster Mennonite High School in Transition U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION &WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE 9F EDUCATION t THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANdATION ORIGIN ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY By John A. Hostetler, Gartrude Enders Huntington and Donald B. Kiaybill Temple University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , October 1974 The research reported herein wasperformed pursuant toa gran' with the Office of Education, U. S. Department of - Heal , Education, and Welfare. Contractors undertaking such projects under Government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their professional judgment in the . conduct of the project. Points of vi07 or opinions stated do not, therefore,Anecessarily represent official Office of Edu^ation position or policy. 00 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF o HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE Office of Education V) National Center for Educational. Research and Development S ABSTRACT This research report is-basedon a study of the Mennonite community near Lancaster, Pennsylvania,and specifically a secondary Mennonite high school in thiS community with an enrollment of 519-pupilsand a faculty of 37. The objectives were these: (1) To construct an ethnography of the school in order to understandthe process of cultural transmission, (2) to discover the patterns of cognition on the part of the participants, (3,) to ascertain the function 'of informalnetworks and ethnic identity in the transmissionof culture, and (4) to provide inductive generalizations. The methods of research represent interdisciplinary fields:Lanthropology, sociology, and social psychology. Research techniques used were participant observation, formaland informal interviews, and various instruments including the Myers-Briggs Indicator, Likert scales, measures of ethnicity and cognitive perceptions of change. ' The principal findings include the following: Values. Mennonite culture maintains a value orienta- tion which is significantly different from adults and students in the general population. However, Mennonite parents show a greater degree of agreement as to the relative importrce of selected values than do Mennonite students. Normative Activities. There is evidence of rapid social change within-the Mennonite culture indicated by the fact that students were significantly lower than the parents .in their endorsement of traditional activities. Students attending the ethnic school indicateda greater preference for traditional normative activities than the Mennonite students attending public schools. Ethnicity. Parents were higher in their evaluation of ethnic membership than were students. The students attending the ethnic school did not increase their evalua- tion of ethnic membership more than the Mennonite students who attended public schools during the schoolyear. The ethnic school plays an important role in transforming the ethhic identity from.concrete daily practice into an abstract symbolic orientation. iii A 00004 Religious Orthodoxy. All Mennonite groups (parents, students and teachers) scored very high in their endorse- ment of orthodox religious beliefs. The students rated significantly higher on orthodoxy than non-Mennonite students in public, schools. This finding indicates stablity of orthodox religious beliefs during, a period of rapid external social change. Self-Esteem. Mennonite students and parer; 7-; were similar ,in their self-concept. Transfer students to the ethnic school exhibited the least increase in self-esteem, Social Networks. Both Mennonite students and parents reported .a high degree of ethnic embeddedness in their social: networks. The ethnic school functions to increase' the ethnic embeddedness'of the networks of ,students who transfer there from the public schools. Analysis of Learning Potential. The Mennonite students' distribution of learning potential scores is higher than the distribution of a! national sample bf students in comparative grades. Personality' Types. On the Myers-Briggs Indicator, theyennonite students, teachers, and board members showed a strong tendency for feeling over thinking types and sensing over intuitive. The staff had a higher per- centage of judgmental types than did the student body. - iv 00005 a PREFACE e . The "authors wish to thank the pupils,parents, board members, administrators,faculty and staff of the Landaster Mennonite High School for theircooperation in making this research possible. Specifically we acknowledge the help and support of the Principal, Dr. J. Lester Brubaker. We are grateful to Dr. H. Dale Spaulding,Principal, and Jere W. Schuler, Chairman of the Departmentof Social Studies, for administering questionnairesto junionand. senior students at Lampeter-Strasburg HighSchool, Lampeter, Pennsylvania. 5 V 06006 xf . TABLE ,OF CONTENTS , ABSTRACT iii PREFACE V LIST OF TABLES xi I. INTRODUCTION 1 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM . 1 ORIENTATIONS IN HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH 2 Sociological 2 Anthropological Ethnic School Studies 2 . , THE i'OPULATION: SCHOOL ND COMMUNITY 5 II. METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURES 9 RESEARCH DESIGN c 9 Ethnographic Construction 9 A Longitudinal.Panel Study 9 Comparative Statistical Groups 13 'INSTRUMENTS UTILIZED ' 15 Values 15 Normative Activities 15 Ethnicity 16 Religious Oi-thodoxy 17 Social Networks 17 / . Personality Types 18 Analysis of Learnfhg Potential 20 Self- Esteeth 21 Patterns of Cognition' 21 Unobtrusive Measures 22 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES 23 Field Work Chronology 23 Participant Observation 24 Questionnaire Administration 27 Participation Rates 28 III. ETHNOHISTORY 31 RELIGIUS*AND CULTURAL BACKGROUNDOF THEMENONITES . 31 vii 00007 History and BeliefsI ..f 31 Separation from the World 34 Btotherhpod Church , 39 Mennonitbs and Education 4.5 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE LANCASTER MENNONITE SCHOOL 7 IV.. ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE SCHOOL 51 THE SETTING 51 AN ETHNIC MINORITY 53 CHANGING SCHOOL REGULATIONS 60 EVIDENCE OF DECREASING ISOLATION / 71 1 SOCIALIZATION WITHIN THE .SCHOOL COMMUNITY 7h Recruitment of Membership 74 Ritualistic Integration: The Chapel a Service 81 Enculturation: The Classroom,: : 96 V.- STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. 105 1' CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH GROUPS 105 VALUES 111 C6nceptual Definition 111 Findings 111 - , 4 NORMATIVE ACTIVITIES ' 119 Cpnceptual Definition 119 Findings 12 ETHNICITY 124 Conceptual De'finition' . 124 Findings . 126 RELIGIOUS ORTHODOXY 131 Conceptual DefinAio 4131- Findings ........*... 131 SELF-ESTEEM 136 1 Conceptual Definition 136 Findings 136 SOCIAL NETWORKS 139 Parental 139 Student , 141 PERSONALITY TYPES FINDINGS 147 viii ),900013 ANALYSIS 'OF LEARNING POTENTIAL 152 The General Composite Standard Score 152 Finding's 153 VI. INDUCTIVE GENERALIZATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS t 155 4 PERSPECTIVES 155 FINDINGS SUMMARY 156 ValUes 156 Normative Activities 156 Ethnicity 157 Religious Orthodoxy 158 Self-Esteem - 158 Social Networks 159 Analysisof Learning Potent.igl 159 . Personality Types 159 SOCIAL CHANGE AND .THE ETHNIC HIGH SCHOOL 160 VII. APPENDICES 163 APPENDIX A (1-9). Statistical Tables 163 APPENDIX B. CharaCteristics of Myers- Briggs Types in High School 184 APPENDIX C. Description of Nine Subtests From Which the General Cord -. posite Standardized Score is Derived 186 APPENDIX D: Map of Lancaster County Menno- nite Churches 188