Dr. J. Eric Bishop '74
Helping students love learning
For 37 years, Dr. J. Eric Bishop motivated Dock students to be as passionate about learning as he is.
Dr. J. Eric Bishop served as an inspirational and caring teacher and mentor at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School (now Dock Mennonite Academy) for 37 years. He dedicated his life to serving Christ as a stimulating and motivating educator for multiple generations of Dock students.
Eric earned his B.A. in English Education from Eastern Mennonite University and his M.A. in Education with an English concentration from Arcadia University. In 2005, he earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in English Education from Kent State University. The title of his dissertation is The Quiet in the Land: Core-to-Core Culture Confrontation in a Democratic English Classroom.
Eric became a Certified Anabaptist Educator in 2012. He taught numerous courses at the college and university level, contributed to the success of Dock by serving on many committees, and made presentations in many different venues throughout his career. He authored many articles and stories in Lamplighter, Christian Living, and Crossroads. Eric also co-authored an article about Dock’s “Building Community” curriculum that was published in Phi Delta Kappan.
Dr. J. Eric Bishop
A teacher like no other
Dr. J. Eric Bishop
- Dock Class of 1974
- B.A., English Education, Eastern Mennonite University
- M.A., Education, Arcadia University
- Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction/English Education, Kent State University
Hey, what’s your Weltanschauung?
Dr. Bishop recently served as the keynote speaker for the National Honor Society's annual banquet, where he spoke to students and parents about worldview.
Weltanschauung is German for worldview. It literally means how a person looks at the world, and every single person in this room has one. For those of you taking notes, the four pillars of a worldview are:
- Origin
- Meaning
- Morality
- Destiny
Origin asks: Where did I come from?
Meaning asks: What gives my present life meaning and purpose, if indeed there is any meaning or purpose in life?
Morality asks: How do I determine right and wrong behavior?
Destiny asks: What happens to me when I die?
Your answers to those four questions comprise your personal worldview. Now, to be clear, though each of us has a worldview, none of us was born with one. A worldview is received and constructed as the result of one’s socialization by way of parents; formal and informal education; religious training; language skills; peers, and personal experiences. A person’s worldview is usually re-shaped in both subtle and bold ways throughout life, in accordance with one’s experiences in those aspects of socialization I just cited.