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.

And, actually, a very important lesson for children is not to judge people by appearances. I don;t want my children dismissing a person out of hand because they aren't wearing a suit! What sor of narrow minded world view is that?

"But do you really think teachers should not be able to wear make up because the kids can't?"
No. I admit that I haven't read all the responses, but I feel strongly that if the children are requiresd to look smart then so should the teachers.

YANBU.

Totally unprofessional. I work in an office and can't wear flip flops and strappy tops, its not professional. Teachers should be smart as well although clearly suits etc not really appropriate.

I agree. I don't wear school uniform, but I do look smart - usually trousers, shirt and jacket. Flip flops wouldn't be safe in the lab.

I also take all but one pair of my earrings out, and don't show off my tattoo.

I don't wear make-up, but that's because I can't be bothered to apply it in the mornings, not because I feel I shouldn't.

My female primary school teachers all wore twinsets, pearls, knee length skirts and court shoes. The male Head wore a 3 piece suit.

This was the teacher uniform in the early 1970s. They also taught using traditional methods.

Then in came baggy umpers, sandals and child centred learning. Sloppy clothes are linked to sloppy standards.

I teach at a school where there is an optional uniform (worn by about 2/3 of the KS1 children but fewer as they go up through KS2) but a dress code has been introduced for staff.

Children can wear jeans but we can't . I teach KS2 but believe in sitting down on the carpet with the children for many activities, in active learning and following the children's interests. At my previous school we were warned off 'tatty trainers', faded jeans, beach wear, cleavage/midriff/bottom revealing outfits but were allowed to encouraged to wear jeans (albeit smartish and paired with shirts/jumpers rather than t-shirts/sweatshirts) so that it didn't restrict us in terms of being hands-on teachers rather than those who were hesitant due to worrying about fabrics not standing up to grovelling around on the floor.

I would like to go back to that sort of dress code. As it is, these days I have one pair of school trousers and a couple of different tops and I rotate those. It's my own school uniform; perfectly respectable but since having children trousers just don't fit me that well... I'm sure I'd teach better when wearing my jeans because they fit me properly.

Perhaps they should provide everyone with those jackets with leather patches on the elbows.

My parents went to an old fashioned grammar school where the teachers all wore academic gowns.

I have the urge to shout take your hands out of your pockets every time i pass the head standing with his hands in pockets. have restrained myself so fr. just another 6 years 2 terms left to go, potentially.

YANBU. As an ex teacher I feel that you are a role model and should, therefore, set standards.

I do agree that teachers should be appropriately dressed, and that hotpants etc are unlikely to ever be appropriate. However, as others have pointed out, the role of the teacher is relevant to the suitability of the clothing; tracksuits and trainers are perfectly sensible for PE teachers, and teachers in special schools may well have particular clothing requirements to cope with a variety of circumstances.

Comparing present-day teachers' clothing to that of office workers , or 1960s teachers, is a bit of a pointless exercise. Suits and court shoes may be appropriate for the office, or teachers that stood in front of a deskbound class, but they are completely impractical when you're dealing with chemicals and sooty gauzes, or hoiking 2-metre-long runways between labs, or digging about for woodlice, or clambering on a stool to reset trip switches.

Though I do think teachers should look smart and professional, that doesn't mean they have to wear a"uniform" in a similar manner to the students. When you are teaching a practical subject, and virtually every child you teach is taller than you, a distinctively coloured outfit is a bonus because the students can see you more clearly.

Once again, I am amazed that so many young people on Mumsnet are so conventional and narrow minded!

It makes me a bit sad, actually. When I was young I thought that all the old "judge by appearances" attitudes would have gone by the time I was middle aged.

i also feel i should point out that learning in schools - and in particular in scottish schools - is supposed to be all about active learning, being involved with what the pupils want to follow etc. we join in with what the children do, i sit down on the floor to paint, hear reading, build with cubes to find out about fractions and so on. i want to feel comfortable in my classroom. i also think there is no point comparing an office to a classroom as it is a completely different job.

BeenBeta, I imagine there were no poor teachers in your day? And there was no poor teaching?

Just because everyone wore a twinset or a suit?

Some of the very best teachers I have known and been taught by have been the worst dressers ever.

Your view is so narrow it's just silly.

Of course there are rubbish teachers who wear rubbish clothes but seriously - don't try to maintain that all teaching was excellent in days gone by. That's wildly deluded! And I have never thought of you as a deluded individual.

Of course there were bad teachers.

However, more fomaility by teachers and a return to traditional teaching would not be a bad thing for children in Yr 3 onwards.

One of the best teachers that I ever had was a terrible dresser. I expect that she had the money, but she wasn't in the least interested in clothes and appearances. We got beyond that, it wasn't important.
I actually thought she was a good role model for an all girls school, she was young and could have been good looking and she really couldn't care what we, or anyone else, thought!

My DD (6 - first year of primary school) has two class teachers doing a job share. Her Monday-Tuesday teacher is über-glamorous with a fabulous designer wardrobe and a large selection of fur coats, leopard skin and soaring heels.

She is also a magnificently good teacher!

With a big dry cleaning bill, Bonsoir! Any teacher of 6 yr olds needs something that you can sit on the foor in, run in , get covered in paint and glue and quite possible worse!
However I bet the DCs love stroking her!

Lomorna, French teachers do not sit on the floor, paint or run!!!

My male CP teacher (first year of primary school)wore full suit and tie but this was the 70s.

As 6 year old children, we were expected to sit at our desks, read and write. Things may have changed but I suspect not that much.

Pleased that I don't live in France then!

MaeMobley is quite right! Quite apart from anything, there is absolutely no space at all in DD's classroom for the teacher to sit on the floor.

Plenty of arts and crafts and singing and drama go on in extra-curricular time, however.

well i haven't been told about our school's staff dress code alhtough i'm guessing that's because it wasn't necessary.

I'm a professional, so I dress professionally. Nowadays, I dye my hair a respectable colour, remove my piercings and cover my tattoos. For school. the kids would have a fit (or think i was really cool) if they could see me at the weekend! But they don't have a clue - and that's how it should be.

I worked in one school where the teachers wore jeans. Shocking!

oh and by professionally, i don't mean formally, but appropriately and modestly.