The impacts of teacher's dress and appearance
I just wanted to bring this topic up on the forum because it was such a hot issue in the classroom and we couldn't put it down... I also never had a chance to say anything about it so I thought I would wait until I got here.
I agreed with the point brought up that you don't want to wear a suit and tie type of thing all the time because you are aloof of the students, and it it isn't as practical for wearing all day (like heels). However, on the other end of the spectrum, Liane was saying that she wanted to connect with the students on more of their level.
Leanna tried to mention that what you wear does however set the tone for the classroom. I think that dressing more like the kids so that they can relate to you negatively affects the teaching atmosphere even though they will be more comfortable with you. This is because they treat you like a peer...meaning that they won't give you their attention in the same way, or obey you.
Something that I heard about clothes to wear is for you to dress smart casual. This means that it is comfortable and yet a little bit dressy. any other suggestions?
posted by steve-q at 12:31 PM
2 Comments:
Hey guys, thanks for the inputs. I just wanted to clarify something Steve. I think I should have added to my comment that IF we are trying to teach students about "stereotyping," "judgements" and "respect" then should it matter what we are wearing? We are buying into the system that we are trying to escape! I understand that dress shows professionalism and that we are using it as a tactic for "classroom management," I just think that it's contradictory to what we are teaching our students. We should be looking past the clothes to the person and be respecting them for that. Right!?!
But you are right I know it works I just think it's wrong!
4:15 PM
Wow, I didn't realize this issue would be so hard for some people. Mostly I am worrying about finding pants high enough that I don't flash the class. Anna I totally agree I would never wear heels unless they were wonder heels and didn't hurt (call me if you find them). I think that as we develop our teacher personality and the way we relate to our subject then we will develop our teacher style. Perhaps I will wear tweed with suede elbow patches to get my students in the mood for history. Mostly I just want to look like a grown up and have my students respect me because I am young and I went through it not so long ago and also because I know what I'm talking about in my subject.
The other concern is that students (not all but lots) dress very provocatively and sometimes inappropriatley. I hope that my students will repect me enough to see that dressing in a way that represents a positive (not necesarily corporate) image to the world is important in gaining respect from other people. We want our students to stop looking at Paris Hilton and start looking at strong female role models, even ourselves their humble teachers to see how fulfilled they can be. As much as we don't like to restrict our students self expression they need to know that they can succeed without showing everything. That was a rant but I think that it is important that we know the culture we are going into has a whole lot to do with image and we need to support students (girls and boys) in creating a positive self image.
9:57 PM
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