I've written before on appropriate dress for teachers and professors. I don't insist on a suit and tie for men, but slacks and a collared shirt on most days seems reasonable to me. Shorts and flip-flops are a definite non-starter with me. Similar level of dress for women.
That this site exists is evidence that I'm not alone in my beliefs. It's called, "Prof or Hobo".
5 comments:
With you on this. At every school I've worked, the expectations for teachers is to "dress professionally." I simply don't see that jeans and t-shirts are professional. Yet, administrators are so reluctant to make an issue of this - and unions are full of it when they defend the teachers on the grounds that it's all about job performance. Style counts.
The linked site's singular axe to grind is that of facial hair. The webmaster's strongly-felt position: facial hair = bad. And that's it. One note samba.
If there was an issue of attire (shorts, flip-flops, shirt collars, or slacks) expressed in the images, I missed it.
No female images were posted (since facial hair is not an issue with women, and "prof or hobo's" one and only issue is with facial hair). An argument could be made that "prof or hobo" has an issue with age (old = bad). But really, it's facial hair.
No, the point made is that there's a way to display your facial hair that looks appropriate, and a way to display it that looks inappropriate.
The real important lesson of the website is that I have a pretty good eye for hobos. I got 9 of 10 correct.
Seriously, a teacher's job is to teach. I firmly believe that this does not stop at the subject at hand. You teach your math lesson for the day but you are simultaneously passing on life lessons. Dress for success is one of the major lessons. You could go on with a long laundry list, importance of being punctual, prepared, ability to listen, ability to adapt (as in your recent post of re-explaining a concept in a different manner to get the teaching point across), etc.
To say these are not important (ala the union as Darren mentions) belittles the role of teachers.
A few weeks ago one of the local TV stations ran a story on a 60 something gentlemen that works with at risk young men. One of the things he has to teach them is how to dress properly, including the simple act of tying a tie. He imparts the lesson of doing thing right every time which will help in life period.
PS: Dean I don't see anything against a well trimmed, i.e. neat beard. I have met one of the (at the time 5 men) who were authorized by the Secretary of the Army to have a bread in uniform for religious reasons and he looked very professional.
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