Classroom Dress
Is it O.K. for a college instructor who works at a college where the students are in a low economic level for the instructor to dress down to match the students dress?
Richard,
Right you and the description you give sets the tone for how the course is going to be conducted and students developed.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
well said, we set the pace for the class. we are the professional not only do we instruct them how to become the best on what they do we also show show them clean and squared away instructor with shirt tails tucked in and the gig line straight and tie propery set, they will follow suit.
Beverly,
I do to. How do you address dress for your field with your students?
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I thank you should dress according to the feild of your profession.
John,
I am with you about the waring of ties. I don't like to wear them either but I am big on professional dress because of the modeling we are doing for our students. The rule of a step above students is a good one that will work in most situations. The idea is to always project a image that you are a professional educator with experience and expertise to offer.
I taught construction technology for a number of years and always wore clean crisp construction suitable clothing and safety gear to show the students the model that they should aspire to.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I agree with the professional dress code. I would say one step above your student should be a must. At our school the trade instructors are required to wear ties! No one in the construction business wears ties! Take some of the richest business men in the world, they dont wear ties. The only thing this is doing is keeping mens warehouse in business. Professor Walter Lewin of MIT does not wear a tie!
As you can tell I dont like wearing ties. LOL
Linh,
This is my position as well. I dress for the career area so that my students see what is expected of them when they enter the field.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I do not think it is ok to dress down to match the students in a lower economic level as an instructor because as instructors, we need to dress in an appropriate manner that is professional without being overyly dressed. In my field of dental hygiene, since we work with patients in the clinic with the students, the appropriate dress is scrubs; therefore when teaching students in the clinic I would wear scrubs, which is appropriate dress for the teaching environment.
Susan,
Right you are. The standard needs to be set from the very beginning of the course so the students will see what the expectations of field are that they are preparing to enter.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I have experienced students feeling they have validity in the classroom and they would NEVER dress, not cover tatoos, take out piercings, on the actual professional setting. If given the opportunity to develop a habit in the classroom - it will most certainly spill over to the work site.
Aki,
Well said. You are reflecting the standards of the field through your dress and conduct. To do anything less is reducing the value of your field and what you are trying to do with your students.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Dressing down will remove any professional standard that you set for your students. As an instructor our goal is to guide the student to success it starts with our attire and demeanor towards the class. We are not negating nor are we ignoring the different social or economical backgrounds are we are simply providing a professional example.
Gayle,
You are right about their need to dress professional when interviewing and in the workplace. When I have these types of situations in classes I do role playing where we have students dress inappropriately and appropriately and then we have a style show. Also, I bring in HR personnel and they walk through what they are looking for when interviewing prospective candidates. I hold a dress for an interview day toward the end of the course so the students observe each other in relation to what is proper employment attire. For many of my students they have never had a role model from which they could take pointers and see what is proper dress.
The results of my efforts are that my students really grow in self confidence if they are dedicated to their futures. Others, refuse to change their attitudes and appearance so they are not successful. I am sad about this but it is their choice in the end.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I agree that an instructor must not 'dress down'. I have found however, that some of my students still come to class wearing piercings and not covering up their tatoos, etc. This is frustrating as I have always dressed and conducted myself professionally. What gives? They cannot present themselves with that unprofessional image in the workforce or during an interview and expect to be hired.
While I agree with your stance on dressign like aprofessional at all time, I TOTALLY disagree on what is "womens attire." I think that is totally acceptable for a woman to wear a suit or anything else that is professional standard for their industry.
It is also appropriate to run spell check. If the message is lost because of poor spelling and grammar, it is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Toni,
Right on. I like your stance on this. I try to set the standard for professionalism with my students so they will know what a professional dresses and acts like in their field. I want them to a model from which they can operate as they move into the work world.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Stephanie,
Your example is an excellent one. As a professional you were presenting yourself as being professional. Many students have not had the opportunity to observe professionals so you are the first role model they have seen. This why they came to school dressed like you. You set the standard for them. I feel the same way you do in that I am going to set the standard for the field I represent so my students will know what to expect when they leave school. The "soft skills" such as appropriate dress are just as important as the specific skills of the job.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
No, it is not ok for the instructor to dress like the students. They should dress professional at all times. When I am teaching in the classroom I make sure that I wear business attire and in the lab I am wearing my lab attire. Even with the lab attire I do not match my students, as an instructor you need to stand out.
I am new to college teaching but taught in public education for 12 years. Most of those years were spent in very low income areas where the parents had, on average, an 8th grade education level. I used to think that getting dressed in dresses, suits, nylon and heels, was excessive, that no one noticed, that some students/ parents/ staff would think i was a "snob" for not dressing like everyone else (ie jeans and a knit top). All of this changed at the end of a very very long year when the students had to give a "professional presentation" for another instructor. About half of the girls came to school wearing an outfit that looked almost identical to something that I owned.
I realize that this is a different type of example but one that I think clearly illustrates (to me anyways) how much our students look at us and use us as models of how to act.
