Introduction to Education Homework # 4

  Not in anyway giving anyone permission to plagiarize or copy this and also not verifying the authenticity of any of the information. Also note that there are probably no sources listed and I am not one myself, so don't quote me. This is just some of my homework; thought it might be interesting to someone:

Personal Appearance

Should it be an issue for teachers and staff?  State your opinion and justify it.

What about the personal appearance of students?  Should there be a dress code?  Uniforms?  Discuss the issues involved.

             Personal appearance will probably always be a factor in the perception of students, teachers, and administrators to each other, as well as to others involved. While I do not really believe that teachers and staff should be judged by appearance, I know that realistically they will be. Especially with the way that politicians and the public opinion can sometimes portray teachers, it would be in teachers’ interests to maintain a professional appearance.

Boyse Mosely, a high school principal in Baltimore, passed a dress code for teachers, saying, “'Teachers want respect as professionals; then they should dress as professionals do” (NYT). I basically agree with his opinion; however, the dress code that he tried to enforce was fairly strict and drew criticism from teachers and unions. I believe that it is a good idea for teachers to dress professionally though; browsing online I found a lot of opinion forums from teachers making recommendations, though most agreed that individual schools had their own policies. Most posts also seemed to agree that it is best to dress conservatively until you are established, especially if you are young.

I believe students should definitely have a dress code and uniforms can be a good idea in some circumstances. I would be wary of a school that required uniforms that had to be bought by parents, without at least some help or exceptions for less-fortunate families. I think that requiring uniforms that parents have to buy will dissuade poor or ignorant parents from wanting or encouraging their child to go to a particular school. For schools with problems with violence, crime, drugs, or etc, I would understand a school or district finding it necessary. If dress code policies are imposed as a district policy or in impoverished areas, it might also be a way to ensure parents buy some presentable clothing for their children, though I am not entirely sure it is the school’s place to aim for that.

Students will always feel like they should be able to express themselves and their perceived originality with their clothing, but that is kind of irrelevant to education. Matt Amaral, a high school teacher, wrote an interesting article on dress codes discussing how distracting clothing can be from education, as well as some overall, very opinionated observations about students’ clothing. Keep in mind it is strictly his opinion, but he listed that he noticed girls who wore provocative clothing: “have lower GPAs, are suspended more, are less likely to go to college, get in more fights, are more likely to have boyfriends, and know more about sex.” Thinking about my high school experiences and observation hours, I would agree wholeheartedly that this is probably true quite often for both males and females. The best dress code for schools will let students and parents have some choices, but attempt to prevent genuinely distractive or obnoxious clothing.