The Amish Educational System
There are many assumptions that frame our current education systems, and whilst often these are ultimately supported by empirical research, some theories have been challenged by various studies. For example, recent studies have challenged the idea that educational experiences are the main contributor to cognitive abilities. Murray and Hernstein, in their book The Bell Curve, suggest otherwise, claiming that at least sixty percent of cognitive abilities are genetic (Murray 1995). Similarly, with the ever-increasing emphasis on more and more education in our society, examination of those groups who do not subscribe to such contexts can shed light on the validity of these assumptions in education.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this research is to identify and examine any advantages to stopping formal education at the age of fourteen. Whilst research will concentrate primarily on the Amish, their unique culture skews any findings of this research to other cultural groups. This raises a number of additional questions to be considered. How does learning differ in primary and secondary children, and how can alternative experiences to formal schooling in the secondary years be of greater benefit? What role does the reinforcement of education throughout school, home, community, and church, as is prevalent in the Amish community, play? Can findings based on the Amish be extrapolated to other groups outside their unique culture? Nearly one-forth of Amish young people choose to leave their community; do the advantages of their schooling and its stopping at the end of eighth grade have value outside the Amish community?
LITERATURE REVIEW
The Amish, found primarily in the United States but also a number of other countries, present a group that culturally believes in limiting education, as well as exposure to the non-Amish world. Most study of the Amish has centred on such cultural difference, but their views of education are also…
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Tags: Amish, Amish community, cognitive development, Religion, research, system, USA
