Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that teachers should dress appropriately

101 replies

moolady1977 · 27/06/2014 11:34

a teacher at my sons school teaching 5/6 yr olds is walking round with a dress that barely covers her bottom and 3-4 inch heels ,,, this isnt the first time though and im just wondering aibu , i just dont think she is dressed suitable for school and so many parents have already complained but nothing has been done about it

OP posts:
StephenManganiseverywhere · 27/06/2014 12:40

I think I have acknowledged my error, Stephen

So you have: cross post! Grovelling apols. Attempting and failing to multitask!

But surely it is part of a teacher's job to help ensure the child's safety which may well including dashing about (not necessarily CHASING the child but you get my drift?

rubadubstylee · 27/06/2014 12:41

Stephen

I'm just of the opinion that the teacher knows what her job entails and is able to judge if the clothes she is wearing prevent her from doing her job. As the OP says many parents have complained, I'm imagining that the teacher and the school believe she is perfectly able to do her job in her chosen attire.

Although this is all a bit daft really as none of us can see what the teacher wore anyway and the three inch heels could be brogues with a cuban heel or something Grin

StephenManganiseverywhere · 27/06/2014 12:41

And just to clarify Echt This was in fact a double cross post: I am not seriously pressing you to explain why 3-4 inches are okay for a teacher of Early Years.

StephenManganiseverywhere · 27/06/2014 12:42

Although this is all a bit daft really as none of us can see what the teacher wore anyway and the three inch heels could be brogues with a cuban heel or something

Bang on, but I never let anything like the facts stop me when I'm on a rolling rant! Grin

SuperFlyHigh · 27/06/2014 12:45

if the teacher can do her job then what business is it of yours (and as someone else said she isn't meant to run about after the children) what she wears?!

jealous much, because, she's young, pretty and has the figure for it?

SuperFlyHigh · 27/06/2014 12:46

also some women (not me now, used to be able to Grin are perfectably able run about in 3-4 inch heels.

starfishmummy · 27/06/2014 12:47

Ds goes to a special school for disabled children. This means that there is quite a lot of bending down (where kids are in wheelchairs) and physical work pushing wheelchairs and standers around. Thongs are often flashed, likewise cleavage. To me it doesn't seem right especially as the school goes from nursery to sixth form so there are plenty of teenage boys around.
But then I am an old fuddy duddy! When I did my teacher training in many schools women were not allowed to wear trousers!!

WhereHas1999DissappearedToo · 27/06/2014 12:47

Ruba I dread to think! though the teacher was quite embarrassed and wore only trousers for the rest of the month.

LaurieFairyCake · 27/06/2014 12:48

Children are always going to wonder about their teachers and parents are always going to complain about fuck all.

I had a very good looking English teacher in her 40's with waist length hair and floor length hippy skirts - in ultra conservative area the parents sniffed disapprovingly at her 'unkempt' appearance because she was beautiful and natural looking.

fruitpastille · 27/06/2014 12:51

Plenty of people can run in heels. It is pretty rare for a teacher to actually have to run after a child though. Pretty rare to stand on one too ime. I am sure she wouldn't wear clothes that make her job harder! I would be more interested in how she was teaching my child.

And sports kit for PE? How dare they...

MyFairyKing · 27/06/2014 12:52

YABU, as long as she can do her job, it is appropriate. It doesn't sound like she was outrageously dressed.

SuperFlyHigh · 27/06/2014 12:53

Do you know what back in the day when I was a child I don't remember really what ANY of my teachers wore (primary especially).

The mad chalkboard male teacher wore tweed suits as did headmaster, another female teacher wore skirts and was pretty and the sports teachers (male/female in secondary and primary) almost always wore tracksuits.

there were a fair few in secondary who wore twinset and pearl stuff with frilled blouses but this was Princess Di era!

ComposHat · 27/06/2014 12:57

I agree that teachers are often scruffily/inappropriately dressed.

To turn up at work dressed in a dirty washed out leggings or tracksuit is contemptuous. It sends the message to the students 'I have no respect for you, it doesn't matter what state I turn up in to meet you and you aren't worth the effort of putting clean, relatively smart clothing on for.'

echt · 27/06/2014 12:57

Yeah, I get it Stephen Smile

Yes, I do feel strongly about a teacher being assumed to be responsible for physically intervening. I know they do this, and every day, but it should never be assumed.

Here's a for instance: a teacher in Oz was disciplined for not intervening in a fight between students. Clearly this is down under, yet not so long ago a UK school was held to be responsible when student skied off-piste after a warning, then was injured.

These are extreme examples, but the principle is the same: the teacher being held to be as responsible as a parent is.

Fuck me. MORE. What parent is held to account when their child falls off their skis or fails to stop their child from hitting another?

Sooo… the ability of the teacher to run or not to run in their 3-4inch heels is not the business of the school or the parents

APlaceInTheSummer · 27/06/2014 12:58

Maybe she kicks her heels off if she has to chase a dc? Grin

I must admit I was a bit Hmm at some of the clothes ds' nursery teachers wear. They do play outside with the dc's and are constantly bending up and down yet often wear heels, tight dresses and full make-up. It makes me feel so old. My nursery and primary teachers looked like nice little grannies.

NorbertDentressangle · 27/06/2014 13:04

"Do you know what back in the day when I was a child I don't remember really what ANY of my teachers wore"

......the only teacher whose clothing I remember was one of my infant teachers who wore ridiculously short (for a teacher) skirts. This was back in the early 70s so a long, long time ago but I still vividly remember how we used to giggle about the fact you could almost see her pants!

echt · 27/06/2014 13:06

ComposHat. You seem to feel strongly about this. Have you ever complained to the school? What has happened as a consequence of your objections?

OwlCapone · 27/06/2014 13:06

This thread is an interesting contrast to ones about little girls wearing "modesty shorts" under their school summer dresses and one where a group of small girls were made to go and change into PE shorts when doing handstands because the boys couldn't control themselves at the sight of their knickers.

Teacher in, apparently, arse skimming dress : OK
Small girls in short summer dresses : not OK without modesty shorts

MN is strange :o

SuperFlyHigh · 27/06/2014 13:09

but Owl - I assume the school is thinking:-

  • small girls doing handstands and the like - more chance of boys seeing proper knickers so modesty shorts needed.

  • adult woman teacher wearing arse skimming dress - presumably she knows not to bend down/over so dress flashes knickers as she's an adult and presumably versed in modest behaviour. eg woman teacher NOT doing handstands etc!

SuperFlyHigh · 27/06/2014 13:11

Norbert - I'm sure in early 1970s mini skirts were height of fashion.

In fact I remember having a convo with fiance's mother about fashions and what she wore and she too wore a mini skirt which barely covered her bottom but she was in admin/PA roles. No-one cared back then see. It was positively encouraged. Grin

OwlCapone · 27/06/2014 13:12

I couldn't give a stuff what people wear in general. With the exception of in the workplace, where it should be "appropriate". For a primary school teacher, this means easy to move about in, easy to sit down on ridiculously small chairs, easy to get down to the level of a small child etc. Preferably without flashing any buttocks.

OwlCapone · 27/06/2014 13:15

SuperFlyHigh Where is the eye line of your average sitting-on-the-floor 6 year old compared to the arse skimming dress of their teacher?

BeeBlanket · 27/06/2014 13:20

Oh I don't know. DS's best and loveliest teacher ever always dressed as if she had got back from a night on the tiles at 6am and not had time to change. Minidresses, heels, leather jacket, loads of make-up. She was fab! And I was happy that the school never made her tone it down, was part of who she was.

I think both male and female teachers should not wear anything actually indecent (e.g. actual bum hanging out) or offensive but apart from that, I like seeing different people's styles.

But then I don't like school uniform for kids either, for the same reasons.

TheresLotsOfFarmyardAnimals · 27/06/2014 13:21

Surely the teachers should be as smart as the pupils? DH (a teacher) wears a suit and tie as the boys have to do the same. The girls have to wear a skirt to a certain length, smart shoes etc and the female teachers seem to wear maxi dresses, leggings, low cut tops.

His school has sent e-mails reminding them of appropriate clothing to wear but they seem to ignore it again quite quickly.

It does annoy me at work when some women wear leggings etc. We're fairly smart but not OTT - no suits but just smart trousers etc. I find it inappropriate when people dress down too much, especially in the summer. It's much easier for men!

NorbertDentressangle · 27/06/2014 14:05

SuperFlyHigh , oh yes mini skirts were definitely in fashion then and this teacher was young and trendy (especially compared to some of the other teachers who seemed positively ancient to 5 year old me!).

However, fashionable or not, they certainly weren't suitable teaching length. It's just funny how Mrs P's short skirts is one of my few memories of infants school! Obviously made an impression (maybe I was hoiking my 5yo's judgey pants Grin)