Do Amish people go to college?
The Amish do not attend college, or even high school. Amish people feel an eight-grade education is enough for members of their society. The Amish traditionally have farmed and performed manual labor.
Sometimes, Amish-raised individuals go on to get a GED, or even to graduate from college. On occasion some Amish youth have even attended high school. But education beyond the eighth grade is extremely rare for the Amish.
However, some Amish people do take correspondence courses to learn a particular skill, such as accounting. More and more Amish have begun running their own businesses in recent years.
Though the Amish restrict schooling, it’s possible that Amish may become more open to formal education beyond the eighth grade in future, due in part to the demands of business.
For more, see:
- Why Amish finish school at 8th grade
- Inside An Amish Schoolhouse (21 Photos)
- Amish Jobs
- Amish Church Rules
Photo credit: ajagendorf25
Higher Education
Beachy Amish have a slightly different approach. One woman, who had converted in Arkansas, was permitted to continue her education, and study genetics. I think that this was partially because she was beyond typical marriage age, and she needed to support herself, as well as genetics is an important issue within the Amish community.
Are the teachers of the Amish children trained to be teachers? After 8 years of schooling are the students as smart as the teacher?
Amish teacher training
Training of Amish teachers varies between communities. Teachers in schools in less traditional communities are likely to have more training than those in more traditional communities, where they may have little-to-zero formal training. A teacher may first serve as a teacher’s assistant to learn how to handle a classroom or may get experience via substituting. Teachers learn via teachers’ meetings and also through teachers’ publications. There is significant diversity among Amish schools which makes this question difficult to answer in a single comment. Train Up a Child by Karen Johnson-Weiner is a good book for more.