The Shirt and Tie
OK, so not everything I post on my blog will be about school libraries BUT most of what I post will be somehow related to teaching in a school.
I often get needled by my colleagues about dressing nicely at work so I am going to address it in my blog.
Growing up I was never exposed to the likes of Gucci, Prada or Louis Vuitton. But, you need not have fashion sense in order to know when it matters to dress nicely. And I think dressing up as teacher is a significant part of the job. Many administrators in education reject the notion of a dress code and often allow a lax dress policy for teachers and students at their school. Another popular idea in some circles is to allow jean wearing on every Friday or at least every other (payday) Friday. I’m not a fan of this.
What we wear speaks volumes of what we think of ourselves, but even more so, what we think of the world around us. As educators we’re role models for all of our students. We’re not repairing highway or changing the motor oil in a car, so let’s not dress like it. We’re educating impressionable young minds. Our dress, as teachers clearly conveys a message of respect and seriousness that should be at the top of every school’s character education and curriculum programs. When teachers dress up they’re honoring education. We lose so much respect in education when teachers wear the same outfit they would wear to school as they would when going to the mall.
I’ve always made an attempt to wear a shirt and tie to work, no matter what the occasion. Without failure, in every school I’ve taught at, I have been met with astonishment from at least one student or one faculty member saying that I am way too overdressed for the job. It’s occurred to me that maybe I’m an anomaly. Maybe children and adults in schools have come to expect slovenly dress. Maybe it’s why students think that they too can get away with the F word on their favorite t-shirt. Maybe they haven’t seen enough teachers dress nicely. We should buck the trend and start respecting the process of education.
As someone new in education, I’d like to lead a revolution. Let’s be leaders and role models in our workplace and in schools with our attitudes, with our actions, and more than ever, our dress. Let’s make an effort, especially for the children.
Hollar! I fully agree with you Justin! I am not (yet) a teacher, but I definitely hear what you’re saying about respect and seriousness in schools. I must admit, when I attended high school (I went to a Catholic school from 1st through 8th, so the uniforms eliminated any chance of “slovenly” dress), I was not a dresser-upper. Au contraire! I was a “jeans and t-shirt” or maybe even “sweats” if I had an especially greulling swimming schedule for the day, wearer….. However. Now that I am in the “professional” world and have realized that dressing up is not just girls’ way of trying to look cool or impress people, but that (for better or for worse) it evokes a level of respect and status, if you will. So what better way to draw respect from your students to dress like a professional, well groomed, intelligent person? Ripped jeans and dirty t-shirts will only tell your students “Hey, look! I don’t give a crap about myself… nor do I care about you!” Okay, so maybe not quite to that extreme, but still. I agree. I think that our biggest (or at least one of our biggest) roles as a teacher is as a role-model. Yes, your job is to enlighten our students with additional knowledge about science, math, English, history, or even just the card catalog system ;)… but really…. if your students don’t look up to you or respect you, not only will you fail in teaching them…. but you won’t do them much good in general. If you are respected and even honored, your students will strive to be like you…. thereby not only learning a great deal–and in that, gaining a LOVE of learning– but also perhaps tidying up their dress a bit… which will only gain them more respect and success in the long run.
So, in that forever long babble of instinctual response,…. Justin, I agree. Keep on wearing that tie!! And don’t forget to smile!
Comment by Kitty — March 8, 2006 @ 1:36 pm
P.S. Don’t mind the typos and grammatical blunders….
Comment by Kitty — March 8, 2006 @ 1:41 pm
I think it depends on the school district. I had a friend get in trouble during his student teaching for not wearing a tie one day, and a teacher-librarian I once knew was required to wear dresses each day in her previous school.
When I began teaching, I dressed nicely each day, always wearing dresses or slacks even when other teachers were wearing jeans, because my own teachers had dressed professionally. But I was in a small, informal town with an equally informal school, and because of my dress I found I didn’t fit in. It became clear a few months into the school year when a teacher mentioned that because I dressed so much better than the other teachers and students, I was somehow implying that I was above them and didn’t want to fit in. What could I do then? I began going to work in jeans, of course, and commanding respect in other ways. I guess my lesson from that, then, is that sometimes you do have to dress to fit in, or at least not dress so much better than everyone else that they think you’re snobbish. In no district I’ve worked would a tie ever be appropriate; I think it’s a product of working in a small town Out West, where things are much less formal.
Comment by Caryn — July 5, 2006 @ 6:51 pm
I’m a teacher working in a small town out west. I wear a shirt and tie every day, usually with a suit jacket. I look professional; I act professional; I am professional.
Comment by Neil Anderson — May 28, 2007 @ 5:24 am
What you’re saying here is that we should teach these kids to judge people on their appearence? And to only respect people who “look” smart?
Respect comes from a teachers attitude toward the job/kids, dress code is important, but not vital, as wearing nice smart clothes wont turn a rubbish teacher into a good teacher, and likewise, being an IT Technician in a high-school, I know some fantastic teachers who dont dress “smart”; they command just as much respect, sometimes even more respect, than someone dressed in a shirt, tie, etc.
One or two have told me they find it more comfortable and easy to teach when not dressed overly smart, as theyre not separating themselves from the kids as much, when I started here as a technician I wore a shirt, tie, trousers, shoes and a suit jacket, now I wear a shirt, no tie, black jeans, boots, and the kids relate to me more, and thus I feel I have more of their respect.
Comment by Isaac — August 2, 2007 @ 10:04 am