Very strictly enforced school uniform - dress code for staff

[onceamai]

AIBU to think that if a school has a very strictly enforced and prescriptive school uniform that the staff should have a strict professional dress code too and should not be turning up for work in any of the following: skinny strap tops, tee shirts, flip flops, track suit bottoms, cargo trousers or jeans. And if every child has to wear a collar and tie then so too should every male member of staff. IMO it's called setting an example and showing a little respect for the school community.

IME you don't want male PE teachers in shorts and vests or else you get all the mothers drooling and gagging hanging around the school gates when the gym class gets back from the football pitch/run in the park

Seeker - as someone whose worked in schools, it is much harder to tell a stroppy 15 year old who is much bigger than you, to tuck in their shirt if you look scruffy. Similarly my daughter and I have long conversations about the amount of cleavage on show at her old primary school and how I think that would be inappropriate at a secondary school.
But I wouldn't say that everyone needs to wear business dress. Teachers can be more casual than an office, but except for mufti days ect. should aim for at least smart casual. (So not necessarily ties, but probably shirts, and cardigans instead of jackets for women; killer heels are usually not appropriate, although some manage them.)

Hairstyles and colours also irk me.

I remember a teacher with bright purple hair excluding a girl with exactly the same hair colour.

If hair colour affects the way a child learns, does it not affect the way a teacher teaches?

So teachers and parents should live they lifestyle we would want our children to live?

REALLY?

Of course not the exact same life...but we are role models.

Do as I say, not as I do, is the surest way to lose all respect.

Come on, you're a teacher, you must know this stuff.

Interesting article about school uniform in the guardian yesterday.

But in general I agree with the OP - in a school where a smart uniform is enforced, its appropriate for the teachers to dress in equally smart clothes.

DD's school are superstrict on uniform.
Trousers/skirt must be black
white shirt
tie
blue school jumper no cardigan
Black or grey socks
No boots
Even the PE kit is a uniform
They aren't allowed to take the blazers off even in searing heat so they all start to smell in summer
They aren't allowed to wear coats over the blazer so they are cold in winter

The male teachers generally wear trousers and shirts with tie, some in suits but the women wear what they like. A lot of it is more suited to a day out for a posh lunch, almost all wear heels. Infact the only staff that have uniforms are the admin staff and cleaners.

Slightly off topic but I remember my mum being horrified out one of my primary school teachers in the id seventies.

In the summer she always came into school in a pair of cut off denim shorts and a strappy halter neck t shirt with no bra!!

We still have some school photos with her in!!

DD gets cross about her 6th form dress code - they are not allowed strappy tops/dresses but the staff are. Another problem is that on "own clothes days" the rest of the school can wear what they like, and then the 6th form get accused of dressing inappropriately, when it's actually the year 10 and 11s in skimpy shorts and strappy tops.

I wouldn't dream of expecting my children to have higher standards of behaviour than I expect of, and am able to achieve, myself! They would have no respect for me if I did - and quite rightly so!

School uniforms are daft. However yes, if pupils have to dress in a ridiculously up- tight manner then so should the teachers.

school i used to work at had v strict staff dress code - even on td days. you could expect a bollocking if you met a parent without putting your jacket on (suit jacket, not parka ). didn't kill me - you can't expect not to lead by example in that environment.

YANBU

Well quite.

You wouldn't lecture your children to eat their vegetables while stuffing down a tube of Pringles.

Common sense.

I think there should be some kind of dress code, yes, just like there is if you work in, say, an office, or as a nurse.

I think it's fair enough that a PE teacher should wear a tracksuit or other suitable sports gear if they're teaching PE all day, but they should adhere to piercings and hair colour rules.

I think strict dress code for the kids is nuts. But i believe children benefit from knowing their teachers as people - we had all sorts, our RE teacher (bloke) would turn up in weirdy sandals and drapey robes and big ol' African trousers. He was bonkers but he was interesting.

The women and men teachers were judged on what they wore on occasion but only if their teaching was dire...or they commanded no personal respect.

we had some GREAT teachers who were fulsomely adored by all, despite having the least clue about what to wear and caring even less...they were too busy and too interested in the kids and the teaching to actually give a shit, and that attitude inspired me once I stopped being a cruel 11yo and laughing at them.

Totally agree with Seeker. Of course teachers should dress appropriately, but this idea of teachers having to obey the same rules as the children is nonsense. Should the children be allowed to go in the staff room? Give detentions? Perhaps the teachers should have to put up their hand if they want to speak? To use a more sensible example , it is pretty normal for girls not to be allowed make-up or earrings at school. Do you really think teachers shouldn't be allowed these? Or perhaps teachers should have to wear a uniform...

I just think that encouraging school children to think that they are on an equal footing with their teachers is a pretty slippery slope, and contributes to that 'You can't tell me what to do' attitude which so many have.

"You don't want male PE teachers in shorts and vests - the ones at my school were all middle aged and overweight and really not attractive."

See, that's another benefit of private school you don't see publicised in the brochure... :o

Goldberry - I think you are confusing the privileges of adults, and the behaviours of the person in authority (which in theory they have earned, and children have not) with standards of behaviour.

I've got some sympathy with Seeker's post as well. There is a place for kids to learn that there are different rules for adults simply because they are adults. Think that we've forgotten this at times these days. By the same token, I agree with the comment that this can undermine their moral authority.

Somewhere in between seems about right: I think its perfectly reasonable for teachers to wear earrings, make-up etc while the students are banned, but a teacher picking up problems with a student's uniform while wearing jeans will probably get dragged into an argument they can't - and shouldn't - win.

Agree that teachers should look smart - DH's school insists that male members of staff wear suits/ties not just trousers/shirt/tie/'sports' jacket as too casual

(by 'sports' jacket I mean the navy/tweed blazer type that doesn't match the trousers - NOT adidas or Nike )

However it would be ridiculous if teachers weren't allowed to wear -scarf/heels/jewellery/make-up - all banned to pupils.

Staff don't wear school uniform because they are adults.

YANBU

I was a parent helper at dd1's school for a while and was informed of the dress code - no visible underwear, jeans or trainers and no visible tats

This is a primary school with a polo shirt/sweatshirt type uniform so not massively strict or overly smart (hate cotton collared shirts/ties on small children)

I just think it's appropriate for the job.

"Staff don't wear school uniform because they are adults."

... and because they are, in theory, mature enough to know what appropriate standards of dress are for adults in authority. Not because standards of dress no longer apply!

Agree that teachers should dress appropriately. Teenage boys are unlikely to respect your authority if they can see your knickers! Waaay back, when I was teaching, I found it helpful to look different to the pupils (sometimes I was only 6 or 7 years older than them).

That said, I have now heard of healthy eating policies being imposed upon staff and think this is a dangerous route to go down. Teachers are adults and I think that imposing the same rules on them that the children have is likely to erode respect.

Children don't wear jewellery at school because they get into fights/have accidents and it's safer for them not too. I've yet to see the teacher scrapping at playtime!

Mind you, when I was teaching I didn't lecture children about school uniform/shirts not being tucked in/hair colour etc. In the great scheme of things, I didn't consider it to be that important and I would have felt like a hypocrite (I am not one of those women who look effortlessly groomed).