A Code to Live By?

Dress codes have always been a topic of discussion throughout my teaching career. I’m not speaking of student dress, but rather the ways that teachers dress.
When I was a student in high school, male teachers wore ties with either a sport coat or a dress suit. Women all wore dresses and nylon hose. When I student taught, I had three clip-on ties, two hand-me-down sport coats, and two pairs of slacks. I was expected to be formally dressed at all times. After all, teaching is a profession, not a job.
Things have really changed since my early years as an educator, and not always for the best. I always resisted wearing a tie because I did not like the constriction around my neck (partly also because it was expected of me.) At one of my positions, I was teaching in a three story building. I was on the third floor and the office was on the first floor. My tie stayed in my desk drawer except when I went down to the first floor. Then the tie went on. Once in a while I’d forget it and the principal would just shake his head. After a few years he gave up and the tie just stayed home. My justification was that if the gym and shop teachers didn’t need them, then, neither did I.
Looking back on those early days, I realize that dressing formally helped define the difference between myself as the educator and the teenagers as my students. It helped to maintain the classroom as a formal place of learning. As I gained experience, I developed skills that allowed me to interact with my students in a successful manner without the formal attire. However, I have always felt that being well dressed and well groomed are important in a world that has become very informal. I am the one in charge and it needs to be reflected both in my manner and my clothing.
I taught a total of 23 years in Pennsylvania and during that time the form of dress became more and more informal among the faculty members, but only to a limited extent.
I then had a six year hiatus from teaching and returned to the classroom in 1993 in the state of Washington. The mix of clothing proved to be very interesting. Ties had all but disappeared and jeans were in for the male faculty while the women wore anything from jeans with torn holes to nice slacks and dresses from formal to very short. One very attractive young teacher wore skirts that were shorter than the students were allowed to wear. She even had the habit of sitting on her desk when teaching. One day we were in the faculty room and she was sitting with me and another science teacher (older but inexperienced with women). She was sitting on a low chair with her feet up on a table right across from him. He was trying very hard to keep his eyes up on hers as she talked to us. I started to snicker at his discomfort which only made him get a bit flustered. It took a while but then she asked, “I’m flashing him, aren’t I?” I grinned at her and said, “Yes, you are.” So she put her feet down and just continued chatting away. That was during her second year of teaching. Today she is an elementary school principal and much more formal in her behavior and attire. I suspect she is a very fine administrator, too.
I have had two student teachers during my last fifteen years. Both dressed inappropriately for the position. The woman was overweight and wore jeans and tops that were several sizes too small with more rolls than Pillsbury. The young man wore formal attire the first week and then switched to old jeans and shirts. They both had clothing that fit their roles; they just wouldn’t wear it. I believe part of the problem is educational indoctrination that often encourages new teachers to blend in with the students and be their friend.
One of my principals once suggested at a faculty meeting that the men should all wear ties when teaching. I was surprised when some of the older teachers strongly objected. Most of the resistance was financially based and was based upon the perception that ties and coats are an unnecessary expense .
It is difficult to proclaim oneself as a professional when attired in rubber sandals and shorts or jeans full of holes while instructing students. It seems as if we like to vacillate between extremes and the pendulum has been swinging to and beyond the informal. I suspect that some day it will swing back the other way. Especially when people realize that if you want to be looked on as a professional, you have to sometimes dress the part. Looking worse than many of the students you teach does not accomplish that role.
I am nearing retirement and decided to go out the way I came in. I am wearing a tie but avoided purchasing a number of sport coats by taking the approach that I am a science teacher and as such can wear a white lab coat similar to that worn by a doctor. I am also doing this as an experiment to determine if students look on me any differently for dressing as a professional. So far I have noted slight differences that I believe would be magnified for the new teacher.