Librarian Folk,
It's been interesting to me to read through this
thread, and just thought I'd toss a comment or two out
as well. I work at a therapeutic boarding school with
a wilderness component, so most of our staff wear
things they can go hiking in. (Most have to do so on
a daily basis.) We do have a school on-site as well
as being a therapeutic program. It's a small
organization, so I am not only the librarian, but the
academic and clinical secretary as well. It's a very
interesting job, and I really enjoy working with the
kids here.
It's interesting that jeans, etc., are not an issue
here, due to the need to wear proper outdoor attire,
but cleavage, tight clothes, or low-rider pants are
not acceptable, due to the problems of a sexual nature
that some of our students have. This is the same for
the kids. If they are wearing clothing that is
ripped, ill-fitting (too tight or falling off),
low-cut, or tiny, it is sent home to their parents, no
questions asked. It's actually kind of nice to see
students progress as they go through our program here
when they actually get embarassed for some of the
newer students who haven't yet figured out the dress
code. They still dress in a trendy fashion and they
have lots of individuality, but the students
themselves start to regulate the fashions and tell
each other that they don't really want to see thongs,
cleavage, boxers, etc. (They do this up at the
dorm--if it makes it down to the main building, it is
confiscated during the school day.)
Even though the adult dress isn't "professional" by
business standards, students recognize quickly that
they need to respect staff--even those that look
young. Most of these students have arrived with some
sort of oppositional defiance or lack of respect for
those in authority. I think that it is good for them
to recognize that authority figures are still in
authority, whether they are in a suit or in jeans.
This is especially important, because many students
have major issues with their own parents, who they see
in all modes of dress. I realize that this is a
unique situation, but I don't really think the clothes
make the teacher. This is, of course, to be taken
with a grain of salt, because our organization does
not accept (and I agree with them) the revealing
clothing mentioned above, nor do the supervisors
respond well to old, torn, dirty, or extremely sloppy
clothes on the staff members.
I also have one final comment to make regarding many
of the posts I have seen referring to "young
teachers." I was one last year (I taught in public
school--high school English--as a first-year teacher),
and keeping the dress code was sometimes hard for me.
The reason for this was that I had just graduated, was
planning a wedding (and spending money on it), and was
trying to get by on a first-year teacher salary. My
clothes from college were not exactly of the highest
caliber (many of my friends would even wear pajamas to
class), and I didn't have a lot of extra cash to
spend. If I couldn't find something at Goodwill or
VERY on sale in a store, I couldn't get it. The dress
code at the school did not allow for t-shirts or
jeans, and although I made it without wearing jeans,
the only reason I made it with tops was that I had an
extensive cardigan collection inherited from my
grandmothers (which would cover up the t-shirts). I
agree with the postings that frowned upon those who
wore revealing clothing--after all, do you really want
high school boys hitting on you? But, give a little
grace to those who still haven't quite removed
themselves from "college mode" (a subtle hint could
help them out) or who simply can't afford to replace a
wardrobe--I know that I welcomed the offer from
another teacher who gave me some of her old clothes,
as it helped to stretch my clothing options. Just
thought I'd throw that out to the discussion.
Sarah
=====
Sarah Milligan, Librarian
Summit Preparatory School
Kalispell, MT
hermia_mnd@yahoo.com
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