Christopher Dock (16981771) was a
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...
educator who worked primarily in South-East Pennsylvania. His teaching techniques stood in contrast to the norm of the day, and emphasized character building and discussion in lieu of
physical punishment. His legacy lives on in the
Christopher Dock Mennonite High School, which bears his name.
Biography
He immigrated to the United States by 1714, becoming a teacher at
Skippack in
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsy ...
(present-day
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the List of counties in Pennsylvania, third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the List of the most populous cou ...
) by 1718. After teaching for ten years, he turned primarily to farming, and bought in Salford Township in 1735. Three years later, he returned to teaching and continued as a schoolmaster until his death late in 1771, when he failed to return home from the Skippack school. He was found there on his knees, where it had been his habit to pray for his students.
He wrote, in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, the earliest known teaching methods text in the U.S., ''Schul-Ordnung'' (''School Management''), a book on general
pedagogy
Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...
. The book was completed on August 8, 1750, but was not published until 1769.
[American Eras, Vol 3.] It was written through the efforts of
Christopher Saur of
Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
United States
* Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County
* Ge ...
, a printer whose son
Christopher was a student of Dock's. He was so impressed with Dock's teaching style, which was becoming well known, that he asked him to write a guide so that others who taught children could benefit as well. Saur's son printed and published the guide.
Methods
Contrary to the harsh methods common in some colonial schools, Dock preferred to use gentler techniques. He sought to build character in his students, using persuasion, discussion, and positive peer pressure to encourage the highest standards of behavior among them. He disciplined poor behavior and attitudes with thoughtfulness and understanding, seeking to make the punishment suitable to the student as well as to the infraction being addressed.
Dock was a practitioner of
fraktur
Fraktur () is a calligraphic hand of the Latin alphabet and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. The blackletter lines are broken up; that is, their forms contain many angles when compared to the curves of the Antiqu ...
, the Pennsylvania Dutch folk art named after the
fraktur typeface. Christopher Dock gave his students little illustrations of a bird or a flower, as well as "Vorschriften" (writing lessons), as rewards.
Legacy
The
Christopher Dock Mennonite High School, in
Lansdale, Pennsylvania
Lansdale is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a densely-populated commuter town, with many residents traveling daily to Philadelphia using SEPTA Regional Rail's Lansdale/Doylestown Line. In 1900, 2,754 people live ...
, is named for him.
Further reading
*''Christopher Dock, Colonial Schoolmaster: The Biography and Writings of Christopher Dock'' by Gerald C. Studer. 1967.
:Reissued by Herald Press, 1993.
*''Necessary Rules for Children in Pennsylvania Dutch Country'' by Christopher Dock. 1764.
:Reissued by the History Press, 2015.
*''Skippack School: Being the Story of Eli Shrawder and of one Christopher Dock, Schoolmaster about the year 1750'' by
Marguerite de Angeli. 1939. Illustrated children's book, ages 9–12.
:Reissued by Mennonite Publishing, 1999.
*"The Gift is Small the Love is Great" by Frederick S. Weiser.
* Contains a facsimile copy of the ''Schul-Ordnung'' and English translations of all of Christopher Dock's literary remains.
* Contains English translations of the ''Schul-Ordnung'', a list of 100 rules and a hymn. At
Wikisource
Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually re ...
.
* A compilation from earlier writings
Notes
*"Christopher Dock." ''American Eras'', Volume 3: The Revolutionary Era, 1754-1783. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale, 2008 Document Number: K2438000307
* Reprinted as ''Dictionary of American Biography Base Set'', Biography Resource Center, Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale, 2008.
References
External links
Dock, Christopher (d. 1771)at
Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia OnlineChristopher Dock - History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dock, Christopher
1698 births
1771 deaths
American Mennonites
Mennonite writers
American educators
German emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies
People of colonial Pennsylvania