Why Teacher Dress Codes?

Arrgghhh! Teacher dress codes! This is a major annoyance of mine. For someone who lives in jeans and t-shirts and who loves a comfy pair of Dr Martens and Stan Smiths, I feel so much pressure to conform to the standards of others. Here are a few of my personal opinions on why dress codes need to be thrown out;

1. Primary aged students rarely look at a teacher's clothes and judge their ability to teach. Kids don't care. They're coming to school to have fun and to learn. Not look at their teacher's clothes and decide that Miss is a bad teacher because she's wearing a t-shirt.

2. Shouldn't we be teaching kids that it's okay to be who you are without feeling pressured to impress those around you? I believe that to teach students that it's okay to express themselves and be confident with who they are we should be leading by example.

3. Clothes don't determine whether someone is a good teacher or not. You can wear a suit and tie and be a terrible teacher. Just like you can wear jeans and t-shirt and be the best teacher your child has ever seen. It goes both ways because teaching ability isn't determined by clothing. Why haven't people worked this out yet?

4. Teachers and even more so, student teachers, don't earn extremely good money, so buying clothes specifically for work can be tough. For example, I'm a pre-service teacher and before my next placement round I am going to have to buy an entirely new wardrobe, simply because what I own is not 'professional' enough. 5. Being comfortable helps with confidence. The teaching profession is one job where confidence is a key factor to being a successful teacher. Personally, I find that if I'm wearing something I'm not comfortable in I begin to feel self-conscious. And if you're standing in front of 30 kids, that's the last thing you want to be feeling.

6. Clothes will get dirty! Having worked in classrooms with younger children I've found that comfortable footwear and clothes that you don't mind getting paint on are the way to go. Of course, I don't mean wear a dirty old t-shirt, but don't expect me to spend money on a nice top which I know is going to get paint on it. Almost every single top, pair of jeans and shoes I own now have little paint fingerprints on them. You can also forget about running around playing make believe or football with the kids in heeled boots or flimsy slip on shoes.

Of course, I can understand some of the dress code. For example, clothing that is too revealing, i.e. low cut tops, or mini skirts and even flip flops. But jeans? T-shirts? Trainers? We're not lawyers or estate agents, we're teachers who are in front of classrooms of children all day, not adults. We're not dressing to impress children, we're dressing to teach. To be active and engaged with students. If parents are more concerned with what you're wearing than your ability to teach their children than they need to get their priorities sorted.

I understand that not everyone will agree with my opinion and that's okay. Please comment below if you want to add anything or if you disagree. I want to hear your opinions.