Month: January 2023

Her outfit was so inappropriate she was not allowed to go past the receptionists desk. She was told it was not an acceptable way to dress when teaching teenage boys.

That was the horror story we were regaled with about a former student teacher on their first day at her first school. Her skirt and top were so inappropriate that she was sent home.

We were all trainee teachers and it was during one of our sessions devoted to professionalism, specifically, how to dress appropriately. The tutor was then bombarded with various questions around what was and was not an acceptable skirt length, heel height and tattoo cover up. He stopped the discussion and told us all one rule that I still observe to this day – “Wear what you would wear if you worked as a cashier in a bank”.

But I don’t work for a corporation!!

True. But then you’re missing the point. Remember why you are there and what you represent. How you show up to work is one of the ways in which you signal your commitment to your role and attitude to your responsibilities.

You are a professional tasked with delivering lessons to pupils in a calm, organised and efficient way. If your clothing is untidy and unkempt it’s much harder for those around you to take you seriously.

The pupils get told how to dress, I don’t!!

True again. But also, kind of not true. Your school will have a staff clothing policy. They will be guidelines about what you should or should not wear. This can also include policies on jewelry and hair colour. Different schools will enforce this policy in different ways. You will never get asked for a meeting if your dress sense errs on the smarter side. You might however if you demonstrate daily that your iron is broken.

So how do I dress then?

Have a work uniform. This is admittedly easier for men as they usually have a few suits and rotate them. Women have more freedom to decide what they consider to be smart. This is what my uniform generally consists of:

• 5 sets of bottoms (so you have one for every day)
• 10 tops (so you have a back up option everyday)
• 1 blazer (a dark colour that goes with and smartens up everything)
• 2 pairs of low heeled dark shoes that need shoe polish (you are on your feet all day; if one pair gets ruined you have a backup pair already)

I keep the colours neutral eg black, navy, grey, cream, white so that mixing and matching between outfits is easy to do. Make sure that you also have a couple of cardigans or jumpers too so that if it’s cold, you don’t have to put on your coat in the classroom.

When deciding on your items think about clothing that is relatively cheap (you will definitely get pen on it at some point). It should also be machine washable (any silk and cashmere should come off the list). Make sure that you can stand or sit in comfortably in all of your clothes for at least two hours at a time. Check that all your clothes reveal an amount of skin that you deem appropriate no matter how you are walking, standing or sitting.

Yes, but how can I express my individuality?

Looking professional rather than cute is the objective. The list above might seem excessively rigid but you express your personality by being uniquely you. Not through the things you wear. You aren’t there to dazzle them with your dress sense but with your teaching skills.

Your mentor / head of department / assistant principal etcetera will be keeping a keen eye on all the early career teachers. Your subject knowledge and behaviour management will be top of their list to watch out for. Professionalism (including things like time keeping, engagement with pupils, attire) is a broad metric that they can assess every time they interact with you. Don’t give them a new problem to deal with. Make it your intention to make their assessment of you as favourable as possible at all times.

Show them that you know how to dress.