Dressing for Success - Everybody's Success

I have been teaching for about 15 years now and I have noticed something about the attire of teachers. In general, it stinks! I consistently see teachers wearing jeans and untucked shirts. I have even seen female teachers wearing sweatsuits (that's what I can them anyway). Personally, I wear a tie to work about everyday except Friday but even on Friday I wear nice pants and a collared shirt. Sometimes a student will ask me if I am required to wear a tie and why if I have to wear one why don't the other teachers. Well the answer is simple. I think that all teachers should dress like professionals. It is no wonder that some people have a hard time thinking of teachers as professionals with some of their dressing habits.

Now I do have some background as to why I dress up for work and wear a tie. When I first started teaching I was so young that I often was asked for my hall pass! So I figured the best why to fix this was to dress up. As I think back to my high school days, the teachers I respected most dressed professionally. I don't think that was just a coincidence. I feel that when a student enters a class and is greeted by a well dressed professional it sets the tone to those students that the task on hand is important.

More along these lines, I wear a suit when I take my band to competition. I do this more for me than anybody else. It puts me in the mood of excellence. There are not too many of us band directors left that do this anymore. I tell the students they have their uniform to wear on competition days and I have mine.

Certainly there are times when teachers should not be required to wear a tie or a suit such as coaching duties, marching band rehearsals, and the industrial arts but I think in a classroom setting this is just one little thing that can help raise the image of the profession of teaching and also the attitude of learning to the students.