The Man Who Changed Schools in
Colonial America
by Tamera Lynn Kraft
Dock immigrated to America in 1714
from Germany. He became a school teacher and developed his own style of
teaching based on encouragement. His desire was to build character in his
students using positive peer pressure and persuasion. Although he disciplined poor behavior and
attitudes, his methods of discipline were more likely to consist of making a
child sit alone for a while. He also had a policy of considering each child
with understanding.
He would reward students with
illustrations of birds or flowers in chalk drawings on their hands and urged
parents to reward their children for good school work by giving them praise,
pennies, and fried eggs. His motto was "Different children need different
treatment."
Christopher Sauer, a printer in
Germantown, noticed Dock's results with the students when his children attended
one of Dock's schools. He encouraged Christopher Dock to write a manual on
school management. Dock completed the manual in 1750 but wouldn't let Sauer
print it until after his death. He didn't want the book to be a monument to
him, but he did let Sauer print a few of his articles including A Hundred Necessary Rules of Conduct for
Children and A Hundred Christian
Rules for Children.
Christopher Dock died one evening at
the school where he taught. He was found on his knees in prayer. Soon after
that Saur's son published Dock's book called School Management on August 3, 1770. It was the
first book of its kind in the United Colonies and influenced the management of schools
for years to come. Years later, the Mennonites named a high school in
Lansdale, Pennsylvania after Christopher Dock.
