The following description of a pioneer school in
Pennsylvania affords a fine opportunity to study
the methods of teaching then in vogue. Many of them
may appeal to us as being ludicrous; but
undoubtedly Dock's teaching was in many ways far in
advance of the times, when the usual and
most-approved method of "imparting knowledge"
consisted in beating ideas into pupils' heads with
hickory switches.
A hundred and fifty years ago there was a famous
teacher among the German settlers in Pennsylvania,
who was known as "The Good Schoolmaster." His name
was Christopher Dock, and he had two little country schools.
For three days he would teach at a little place called Skippack, 5
and then for the next three days he would teach at
Salford.
People said that the good schoolmaster never lost his
temper. There was a man who thought he would try to
make him angry. He said many harsh and abusive words 10
to the teacher, and even cursed him; but the only reply
the teacher made was, "Friend, may the Lord have mercy
on you."
Other schoolmasters used to beat their scholars severely
with whips and long switches; but Schoolmaster Dock 15
had found a better way. When a child came to school for
the first time, the other scholars were made to give the
new scholar a welcome by shaking hands with him one
after another. Then the new boy or girl was told that
this was not a harsh school but a place for those who would
behave. And if a scholar were lazy, disobedient, or stubborn,
the master would in the presence of the whole school
pronounce him not fit for this school but only for a school
where children were flogged. The new scholar was asked 5
to promise to obey and to be diligent. When he had made
this promise, he was shown to a seat.
"Now," the good master would say, when this was
done, "who will take this new scholar and help him to
learn?" When the new boy or girl was clean and bright 10
looking, many would be willing to take charge of him or
her; but there were few ready to teach a dirty, ragged little
child. Sometimes no one would wish to do it. In such a
case the master would offer to the one who would take such
a child a reward of one of the beautiful texts of Scripture 15
which the schoolmasters of that time used to write and
decorate for the children. Or he would give him one of
the pictures of birds which he was accustomed to paint
with his own hands.
Whenever one of the younger scholars succeeded in 20
learning his A, B, C, Christopher Dock would send word
to the father of the child to give him a penny, and he would
ask his mother to cook two eggs for him as a treat. These
were fine rewards for poor children in a new country.
There were no clocks or watches in the country. The 25
children came to school one after another, taking their
places near the master, who sat writing. They spent
their time reading until all were there; but everyone who
succeeded in reading his passage without mistake stopped
reading and came and sat at the writing table to write. 30
The poor fellow who remained last on the bench was called
the Lazy Scholar.
Every Lazy Scholar had his name written on the blackboard.
If a child at any time failed to read correctly, he
was sent back to study his passage and called again after
a while. If he failed a second or a third time, all the scholars
cried out, "Lazy!" Then his name was written on 5
the blackboard, and all the poor Lazy Scholar's friends
went to work to teach him to read his lesson correctly. And
if his name should not be rubbed off the board before school
was dismissed, all the scholars might write it down and
take it home with them. But if he could read well before 10
school was out, the scholars, at the bidding of the master,
called out, "Industrious!" and then his name was erased.
The funniest of Dock's rewards was that which he gave
to those who made no mistake in their lessons. He marked
a large O with chalk on the hand of the perfect scholar. 15
Fancy what a time the boys and girls must have had, trying
to go home without rubbing out this O!
If you had gone into this school some day, you might
have seen a boy sitting on a punishment bench, all alone.
This was a fellow who had told a lie or used bad language. 20
He was put there as not fit to sit near anybody else. If
he committed the offense often, a yoke would be put round
his neck, as if he were a brute. Sometimes, however, the
teacher would give the scholars their choice of a blow on
the hand or a seat on the punishment bench. They usually 25
preferred the blow.
The old schoolmaster in Skippack wrote one hundred
rules of good behavior for his scholars. This is perhaps the
first book on good manners written in America. But rules
of behavior for people living in houses of one or two rooms, 30
as they did in that day, were very different from those
needed in our time. Here are some of the rules:
"When you comb your hair, do not go out in the middle
of the room," says the schoolmaster. This was because families
were accustomed to eat and sleep in the same room.
"Do not eat your morning bread on the road or in school,"
he tells them, "but ask your parents to give it to you at 5
home." From this we see that the common breakfast
was bread alone, and that the children often ate it as they
walked to school.
"Put your knife upon the right and your bread on the
left side," he says. Forks were little used in those days, 10
and the people in the country did not have any. He also
tells them not to throw bones under the table. It was a
common practice among some people of that time to throw
bones and scraps under the table, where the dogs ate them.
As time passed on, Christopher Dock had many friends, 15
for all his scholars of former years loved him greatly. He
lived to be very old, and taught his schools to the last.
One evening he did not come home, and the people went
to look for the beloved old man. They found their dear
old master on his knees in the schoolhouse. He had died 20
while praying alone.
--_Stories of American Life and Adventure._
1. How was Christopher Dock's school different from
most pioneer schools of that day?
2. How did he teach good behavior? What inducements
were offered for scholarship? You often hear people
say that only the "three R's" were taught when they
went to school. What do they mean?
3. What information about pioneer home life does
this article give you?
4. You will be interested to know that the pupils
in the early schools studied their reading aloud at
the top of their voices. They learned reading by
singing "ab," "ba," etc. Later, when geography was
taught, the capitals of the states were sung.