Amish Treasure

To see new and different cultures is an enriching experience, especially when it lives side by side a familiar one. While the American culture has its differences with Australia, it is relatively quite similar, especially when compared to others from around the world. And especially when it comes to the Amish communities that co-inhabit certain parts of the country.

Amish dairy farm

I must say it was my absolute pleasure to visit an Amish school in Pennsylvania and to speak with one of the community’s teachers – Marion. Unfortunately, I can’t show you the dedication on her face or the love for her students in her smile because the Amish people chose not have their image taken in a posed photograph. But if you could see her marking the books, sitting in the one-room school, as all Amish schools are, you would witness her contentment that the traditional ways are the best ways. However, the traditional ways are her only known ways. She could have little idea of what modern schools look like or what they’re doing with learning spaces and student voice and one can only wonder what she would make of the technical wonders at the recent ISTE Conference.

Amish One-room schoolhouse

It was clear that Marion was curious about my school and my class but she had little to reference it against. Her worldly knowledge was scarce and her own schooling didn’t provide a lot in the way international affairs or go beyond basic geography. Marion herself would only have completed up to the 8^th grade, as that is where the Amish education cuts out. This is not a criticism, just an observation. Who am I to argue with a system that has suited a community's needs for hundreds of years, just because I may not understand it or even agree with it?

When asked about student involvement and group work, Marion gave an inquisitive look. After we spoke about it a little more, she said that the older kids sometimes work with the younger ones. When I asked her about student voice she seemed confused. Why would the students have a say in what they learn or how they learn it? It’s not their place to determine that. It wasn’t even hers. The elders dictated what was taught and how. And the elders were all men and the elders themselves hadn’t been formally taught beyond the 8^th grade either. That’s not to say that didn’t know what was going on in the world. They were widely read, mostly through newspapers and occasionally they might see some television. But setting a wide educational curriculum was deemed unnecessary.

The knowledge they needed to live their intentionally simple lives was learnt through experience, starting from an early age. Most Amish families worked on farms, wood working or construction. The children work with mum and dad from an early age and it’s not unusual to see kids working in the fields while driving amongst the farms. But apart from the practical knowledge needed to grow up and care for a family and a community, the Amish children must also learn about God. While they have books for reading at school, the Bible is their main source of reading in the home and from this, come most of the games they play and the songs they sing.

Amish girl working in the field

Young Amish boy working on the family's tobacco farm

This is important to note when trying to gain some understanding as to why the Amish chose to live this way in a world of such varying stimuli. According to Marion, it is basically so they may focus on God and not be distracted. They have chosen some aspects of life to remind them to conform and dedicate to their faith. As Marion put it, the main things are:

• ·         transportation (buggies)

• ·         no ‘electric’

• ·         clothing

• ·         communication

• ·         and of course education

 

And it’s education where Marion says she plays her part, before she gets married and yields to her husband. For this reason, most Amish teachers are unmarried young women. After having a look around the schoolroom and flicking through some books (the students were already on summer break) I came back to Marion with 2 big questions.

1. What do you think is the most important thing to teach your class?

Answer: For the students to learn to submit to the community.

This of course was a very concise answer, as they all were in her heavy Dutch-Pennsylvanian accent. And it was a brilliantly concise answer at that, because it encompassed all that the Amish people were about, for the community means family, neighbours, God and their overall lifestyle.

2. What was the thing that she most loved most about teaching?

Answer: The students and seeing them smile.

Such a reassuring answer but not surprising. The Amish love their children unashamedly and build their work schedules around being with them, especially on a Sunday when, after 3 hours of prayer/church (which incidentally is rotated around community members’ houses – they have no churches) they must have family time and no work is allowed. Marion’s answer showed me also that teaching is a special calling with the same driving passions, no matter what community you come from.

Amish males get around on scooter-like standing bicycles

I think I could write a whole book on what I learnt not only about, but from, the Amish people that I met. They are special community and I feel privileged to have had a brief encounter with one. So it’s no surprise to me that at 18, when the Amish teenagers have to make a choice to stay with the community or leave to join the 'English' that nearly 90% chose to stay.

Message to to the students

Being on a professional learning journey and exploring student voice shouldn’t just mean looking at examples where student voice is loud. It should encompass all realms of the spectrum of education in order to seek out the treasures. And the Amish treasure? While the students don’t have much of a student voice, nor do the Amish have too many cherished possessions or physical treasures, the true Amish treasure is certainly to be found within their hearts.

Please Note: While the Amish wish not to be photographed directly, it is the idea of posing for a photo that they are most against. Before taking the pictures on this page, I checked first with my guide who said it would be okay to take and use these. He was a very experienced local Mennonite guide who drove me around and also told me when it was not okay to take pictures. Marion herself endorsed me to take photos in the school room. She was keen for my students to see what it looked like.