1718–1771: documented teaching and death · person
Christopher Dock
Pennsylvania schoolmaster whose teaching, illustrated writing, and School Management joined learning with Christian formation.
Also searchable as: Christoph Dock
Christopher Dock taught children in the Mennonite settlements of southeastern Pennsylvania. The school that bears his name places his arrival in America around 1714 and the beginning of his work at Skippack in 1718. The chart’s 1714–1771 caption therefore should not be read as a lifespan.
His school life joined reading and writing with Christian conduct. Decorated examples of handwriting served both as models and as rewards. His surviving account of school management describes attention to the needs of individual children, the responsibilities of the teacher, and the formation of habits of learning and godliness.
Dock wrote his Schul-Ordnung in 1750; it was published by Christopher Saur at Germantown in 1770. He died in 1771. His own writing, preserved in later editions, lets readers examine the daily practice of a Mennonite schoolmaster rather than relying only on the familiar image of him praying for his pupils.
Sources for this history: [1] [2] [3] [4]
