Train Up a Child: Old Order Amish and Mennonite Schools

Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies

by Karen M. Johnson-Weiner

Train Up a Child explores how private schools in Old Order Amish communities reflect and perpetuate church-community values and identity. Here, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner asserts that the reinforcement of those values among children is imperative to the survival of these communities in the modern world. Surveying settlements in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, Johnson-Weiner finds that, although Old Order communities have certain similarities in their codes of conduct, there is no standard Old Order school. She examines the choices each community makes―about pedagogy, curriculum, textbooks, even school design―to strengthen religious ideology, preserve the social and linguistic markers of Old Order identity, and protect their own community's beliefs and values from the influence of the dominant society. In the most comprehensive study of Old Order schools to date, Johnson-Weiner provides valuable insight into how variables such as community size and relationship with other Old Order groups affect the role of these schools in maintaining behavioral norms and in shaping the Old Order's response to modernity.

Genres: Nonfiction, Amish

304 pages, Hardcover

First published November 17, 2006

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The diversity of Plain People in clothing, religious expression, interactions with the secular world, and especially in education, once one realises that the Amish and fellow Anabaptists such as Old-Order Mennonites cannot be shoehorned into one stereotypical picture-postcard of a bygone era, is evident by the many differences in the lives and faith expressions of these varied communities. In terms of education, Karen Johnson-Weiner has visited numerous Amish and Old-Order Mennonite schools across the eastern USA from the extremely traditional Swartzentruber Amish whose refusal to more progressive communities in Indiana and all varieties in between to create one of the fullest accounts of Old-Order schooling and attitudes towards education.

This is a detailed and engaging account, scholarly and yet readable, showing the extent to which Johnson-Weiner has managed to engage with the usually-reserved Old-Order communities. It is revealing to see, that even within the same or similar faith communities, the extent to which Old-Order attitudes towards education differ. In Holmes County, Ohio, although Amish parochial schools are increasingly expanding, the vast majority still send their children to public schools; in upstate New York, English language is more valued in middle-way Old-Order communities while the Swartzentruber Amish learn the bare minimum using textbooks from 1919.

In order to gain a better understanding of the great variety in Old-Order Amish and Mennonite communities, understanding how they value education is extremely important. This is a fine addition to scholarly and popular understanding of the Old-Order Amish and Mennonites, showing again how important education is in maintaining both religious and ethnic cohesion.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating.

[Marilyn Gast · Rating 5 out of 5]

long read, but interesting

Reads like a PhD dissertation, lots of information in a scholarly format. I'm a fast reader and it took me a good week to get through the material.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mentor and college advisor wrote this book based on her years of research. I often discussed my life growing up with the Amish in conjunction with her work and interests. I know several of the families detailed in this book.

[Betty Harris]

To read

[Lily S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting examination of the role of schooling (and education) in an insular community. Made me think a lot about the role of school in the larger society.