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One thing I've noticed is that over the years in public schools, student dress codes have become increasingly more strict. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. But conversely, I've noticed that the dress standards that I see teachers following have become increasingly lax. When I was in grade school in the 80s, female teachers never went more casual than slacks, male teachers always wore a shirt and tie, many of them wore jackets. Today, at my son's elementary school, which is a 95% female staff, they routinely dress in jeans, T-shirts and even flip-flops. Many seem to spend very little time on their appearance at all. I find this to be very unprofessional.
Is anyone else seeing this? Am I just behind the times or should teachers be expected to dress more professionally?
I am all about the relaxed dress. I will be found barefoot or in flipflops at any moment in time.
I like tshirts that say something funny and are soft.
I wear shorts in the summer and sweat pants or jeans in the winter.
I am NOT about dressing up.
HOWEVER, in a professional setting (and in my opinion, a school is), people should be dressed professionally.
Does that mean that the teacher can't wear jeans? Sure. But nice jeans with a shirt or actual blouse.
Certainly no flipflops.
I mean, how would my patients like it if I saw them in my umbros, tevas, and "Orgasm Donor" t shirt?
Does not engender trust or respect or that I am taking this seriously.
I don't think that teachers should necessarily have a dress code, but if they can't use their own good judgment to dress appropriately, I suppose you have to enact one.
High school was only 20 years ago for me, but geezus, times have dragged these people down in terms of how they look.
I am all about the relaxed dress. I will be found barefoot or in flipflops at any moment in time.
I like tshirts that say something funny and are soft.
I wear shorts in the summer and sweat pants or jeans in the winter.
I am NOT about dressing up.
HOWEVER, in a professional setting (and in my opinion, a school is), people should be dressed professionally.
Does that mean that the teacher can't wear jeans? Sure. But nice jeans with a shirt or actual blouse.
Certainly no flipflops.
I mean, how would my patients like it if I saw them in my umbros, tevas, and "Orgasm Donor" t shirt?
Does not engender trust or respect or that I am taking this seriously.
I don't think that teachers should necessarily have a dress code, but if they can't use their own good judgment to dress appropriately, I suppose you have to enact one.
High school was only 20 years ago for me, but geezus, times have dragged these people down in terms of how they look.
I work at a few schools that had to enact dress codes.
The new teachers were showing up showing more skin in the wrong places when there wasn't a dress code.
And tattoos are a lot more common among the younger crowd.
From what I've seen on casual Friday's in the schools I think it's a good thing they put out a teacher dress code.
Do you know what IDEALLY means? You can't serve two masters, and if you and he can't understand they then this thread really is as pointless as I think it is n
And this person has come back multiple times and insisted we wear tailored fashionable clothing as well as safe. That in addition to teaching, and maintaining safety of children in a potentially unsafe situation, that now we are supposed to make sure under the mud, chemicals, sawdust, whatever, our clothes are "visually appealing".
Otoh, this thread has made me grateful the parents of my students are much more concerned with their children's safety and learning than the fact that I wear jeans and boots a couple of days a week.
If you find the thread pointless, perhaps you should consider moving along. It is your "contribution" that I find utterly pointless and wish you would. It's like beating one's head against a wall to get you to understand this.
This was the quote: "I don't see what is so objectionable about holding that as an ideal to aspire to whenever possible; an ideal - it neither is nor should be an expectation we hold people to." Do you understand AN IDEAL TO ASPIRE TO WHENEVER POSSIBLE? Do you not understand this sentence? Over and over, you keep mischaracterizing what was said in order to suit your argument. Again, I challenge you to give me these quotes where anyone insisted unequivocally that all teachers should wear tailored, fashionable clothing. You can't do it, because it didn't happen. You owe this poster a retraction and an apology.
I honestly think it is hard to be as productive in with a tie and jacket.
why you would put the teacher in tie that is almost suffocating him.
He is sweating his ass off.
wouldn't he be more productive in pair of jeans and a polo shirt.
same goes for women with hills.
in Private industry through lots of experimentation we have concluded
that for now only sales people wear formal and fortunately many places
are skipping the tie.
In the elementary grades I don't have an issue with teachers being casually dressed. They're on the playground and dealing with classroom messes on a regular basis. I don't think teachers should be permitted to wear anything expressly forbidden to students though, and our schools never allowed flip flops.
Once the student body is older, it makes sense to me that teachers dress in a manner that sets a good example for the future adults they are setting an example for. It doesn't mean a shirt and tie, or skirts and dresses, these days, many businesses no longer require them. Neat and clean works.
I disagree. Teachers are adults and professionals. While they should be dressed neat and clean (whether it's casual or formal), they do not need to adhere to the same rules as the kids. At our kids' schools, the teachers pay for dress down Friday which means jeans, but they are still neat. But I don't believe that high school teachers are doing less physical stuff than the elementary school teachers when it comes to dealing with messes. They are in the lab, the art room, the auto shop, breaking up the occasional fight, some are working off carts, some run after school activities that require easy to move around in clothes.
I work at a few schools that had to enact dress codes.
The new teachers were showing up showing more skin in the wrong places when there wasn't a dress code.
And tattoos are a lot more common among the younger crowd.
From what I've seen on casual Friday's in the schools I think it's a good thing they put out a teacher dress code.
The principal should be able to handle that without having to impose rules on everyone else.
I have no reason to believe that you are not an outstanding teacher and are doing good work, but it is my opinion that professionals in the role of a professional teacher should dress professionally. There is a plethora of research that supports the effect of dress on the how a person is perceived. You are in an interesting and enviable teaching position and in your school, it may not be that critical.
One time I had to go to my daughter's high school, a very high achieving, elite magnet school, and advocate for her regarding an issue she was having in a class. In the meeting with the dean and AP, in walks the teacher in ragged jeans and sandals. I was dressed, having come directly from my job, professionally, and he was dressed like a beach bum. The contrast was obvious to everyone. The dean looked ashamed as the other teacher and I laid out our cases. It made my argument stronger when the appearance was that a professional was arguing against a non professional and I used it to my advantage.
And then there are good people who know better than to judge a book by its cover.
The principal should be able to handle that without having to impose rules on everyone else.
If you start yanking individuals in to the "principal's office" and talk to them about their dress, it doesn't go over very well, especially in the absence of any written guidelines.
The principal should be able to handle that without having to impose rules on everyone else.
Principals treat the teachers like the students though.
One bad apple and the rules for everyone changes.
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