After reading 2 blogs last week about student dress code, I got to thinking about teacher dress and how it has changed, and I don't think for the better.
I have been teaching in a public school for 17 years. All of those years have been in the same school. I have seen many changes take place over the years. When I began teaching my first year, I was still in college mode. I was still on the budget of a college graduate. I don’t recall putting a lot of thought into my clothing during that first year. It must have been obvious because I was taken into the principal’s office and told what not to wear. Now, don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t wearing anything risqué or vulgar. I was told that I wore too many sweatshirts and that I needed to wear more dresses and dress clothes. At first I was seriously offended. I didn’t think anything was wrong with what I was wearing. But, I followed orders. I spent the summer updating my wardrobe. The next school year, as I wore my new professional wardrobe, I felt different. I realized I matched the rest of the faculty. It wasn’t like the game where you pick out the one picture that doesn’t match anymore. I am here to attest that I began to be treated differently, by young and old alike. Although I protested at first, I became a fan of professional dress for teachers.
That was over a decade ago. Almost 2 decades, but I don’t want to make myself sound too old! We had a large group of teachers retire all in one year. So to replace them, a bunch of ‘newbie’s’ were hired. All of which had the same way of thinking I did when I started teaching. One of the problems about this is the principal, who is suppose to enforce professional dress, is a ‘newbie’ too. Our dress code has slid down that slippery slope for many years now. We have had teachers or aides wear completely inappropriate attire for the workplace, let alone the school. There were men wearing cargo shorts and ladies wearing tank tops with embarrassingly low cleavage. In my opinion it has drastically changed the demeanor of the school and the value that is placed on the teacher or school faculty. I don’t think it is appropriate to wonder who is the teacher and who is the student when 2 people are walking down the hall. There should be much more of a distinction. I am a firm believer that you need to dress for success. I don’t think it needs to go as far as a dress code for teachers. As the article stated, that could be a nightmare dealing with the union to even get that approved, but it should not have to be written in stone. It should just be a simple matter of good judgment and adult decision making.
What do you think?
Elizabeth Haraseth a.k.a. Id_rather_be_golfin
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Oh, how I agree with you. When teachers complain about not being treated like professionals my first thought is often well, maybe you should look like a professional. Looking professional doesn't mean teachers have to wear full suits or out of style clothes. My administration had to tackle this very subject and came up with "business casual." It has worked out well.
ReplyDeleteIn order to throw in a bit of controversy, I can see how building a new wardrobe on a new teacher's salary can be tricky. It is also becoming increasingly difficult in areas with limited shopping to find appropriate clothes. (Please don't say order online- I'm almost 6 ft tall and have to try on almost everything) Perhaps this mentality of appropriate dress needs to stressed more during student teaching to allow "newbies" to build a wardrobe.
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteIt is too funny that you wrote your blog about this issue as I was talking about this with a colleague of mine yesterday. I asked her if she was going to write a student up for wearing a really skimpy miniskirt and she replied, "What good would it do when we have teachers in this building who are wearing far more provocative clothing?" We have a group of female teachers in our building that are wearing miniskirts, cleavage shirts and in some cases, visible thong underwear. How can we enforce a dress code for students when staff are wearing many of the same things? Talk about a double standard! I would like to believe that I am one of the better dressed male staff members in the building and I put a lot of effort into looking professional and representing the school in a positive way. There are other male staff who wear shorts, sandals and HATS! Call me old school, but I am of the mind that teachers should dress conservatively and keeping in mind that we are setting an example for our students.
cheers,
ct
Elizabeth -
ReplyDeletesince I blogged about the school dress code last week I thought I better read yours about teachers. You are dead on. Teachers need to look professional and when they do they will act and perform as professionals. I never thought of the positive example we are showing the kids too. Our school is buiseness causal and I am glad we are. In the summer the staff can dress down a little sort of like Jeans Friday with a donation of course.
I have a friend who works at school that has a dress code because the girls were/are wearing some tastless cloths. He said he sent a student to the office and he had her in 4th period, so how does a school enforce it when the teachers don't. I mean this girl should have been sent out after 1st period alreay not half way through the day. I never asked what his female staff is wearing but maybe it is the same case as Clinton's school.
It is too bad that the adminstration doesn't notice the problem or the parents. Keep dressing up and maybe some will follow you!
Elizabeth, good topic to blog about. This seems to always be an issue in any school.
ReplyDeleteI'm in my 5th year teaching so I'm sorda a newbie and will speak on their behalf :) (well sorda). I don't think a teacher should ever be showing thong underwear or wearing low cut shirts, and to be honest I don't think any person should be wearing that in any workplace. Although, I do not find cargo short inappropriate as long as it is paired with a nicer shirt (a polo for example). I think my opinion is from the generation I'm in. Casual for my generation is jeans and sweats so kaki shorts seems somewhat dressy. I feel that I dress professional (I wear slacks, dress shirts and heels most of the time although I wear capris, polos and flip flops as well). I also participate in Friday jean day. Today was a hooded sweatshirt, tennis shoes and jeans but this is the typical wardrobe for all teachers (young and old) on Friday. For example, my principal today has in tennis shoes and a windbreaker jacket with the school logo. I think teachers need to be dressing professional but I think times are just changing and newer teacher won't be in suits and ties everyday. Doing the generation project for this class I think we all learned that things are changing in generations and professional wardrope is one of them. The big issue in my school has been flip flops. I'm sure you would agree those are not proffessional but I don't find a problem with it. My school does not have air and when it is 80 outside I want to be cool (or else I get crabby, haha). I think with the different ages of teachers on our union a dress code would never go through. I would hope though if a teacher was showing too much cleavage, etc that a principal or a peer that is close to the individual would mention something. As far as cargo shorts or flips flops I think we have to let it go a bit. Times are changing and as long we look decent and get the job done that is what matters.
The dress of faculty members has been a hot topic for several years as well. I do believe that if a teacher wants to be treated as a professional, they must dress and act as a professional. We don't have a lot of problem with staff wearing revealing clothing, as we do have administration that will tell teachers if their clothing is too revealing. I am not in favor of requiring staff to wear suits. However, I don't think it is professional to be wearing shorts and t-shirts or sweatshirts except on casual Friday or special dress up days during homecoming and such. Even before we got cooling units in our classrooms, it was not appropriate to wear shorts. I believe that at least dress pants and a polo should be worn by teachers. I personally wear polos until the weather cools down, then wear a shirt and tie every day but Friday until the weather warms up in the spring. I don't consider it a hardship to dress professionally, and I feel more professional when I dress professional.
ReplyDeleteI always think that it is a great idea to be as professional as possible in the classroom when it comes to dress so that you can model good behaviors for your students. Despite saying this, I hate wearing a shirt and tie to work every day. When I am in the lab, it is difficult to always be professional, so I try to keep it business casual with khakis and a nice polo. That is me every day. There are extremists though that want to wear whatever they feel like, whether inappropriate or not. Some older women at my school dress like they are going out rather than coming into work to work with children. It is a little disheartening to see individuals not want to sacrifice a little bit of what I will term "appeal" to look professional and like you care, rather than you are looking to pick someone up.
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