grodscorp@grods.comTeachers wear t-shirts, educational outcomes suffer
 | Posted by Scott on Thursday 6 December 2007, 7:47 am Categories: Education, Politics Tags: Tags: AndrewBolt, DressCode, facilities, schools |
We’ve bashed teachers for everything from being greedy and money-hungry, to being resistant to further training, to only working five hours a day, to failing to teach our kids good. Its pretty standard stuff and it’s the kind of ill-informed scrutiny that few other professionals have to deal with on a nearly daily basis. But it’s not enough for Andrew Bolt who has seized on a story in this morning’s Hun like an excited dog finding a juicy bone. The story:
FRUMPY or sexily dressed teachers would be forced to spruce up under a crackdown recommended by state MPs.
Schools would have the power to stamp out inappropriately dressing by teachers under new guidelines recommended by a state parliamentary inquiry.
[...]
In a submission to the education and training committee, Mont Albert Primary School principal John Gow said he’d had difficulties with staff dress.
“This year already I’ve had to suggest to female teachers that I don’t believe singlet tops and thongs are professional dress,” Mr Gow said.
“To males I have had to suggest that beach shorts, sandals and collarless T-shirts are not professional dress.”
Bolta’s response:
Strange that we need new rules now to enforce standards you’d assume could be taken for granted… This after years of formal training and professional development.
So what are teachers, Andrew? Filthy, no-good, poorly-trained idiots or formally trained professionals? You can’t mix-and-match depending on which insult you’re going to throw each day.
Let’s make a deal then. If teachers have to adhere to a dress code then the State and Federal governments have to adhere to a facilities code for public schools. As Brian Caldwell says in today’s Age, “Most of our government schools and many non-government schools are run-down or educationally obsolete. It is no wonder teachers do not wish to stay in the profession when they are forced to work in substandard facilities.” When it pissed down rain the other day I had two buckets in the hallway outside my classroom stopping waterfalls from drenching my kids’ stuff. I cannot, for love nor money, find a class set of protractors or compasses anywhere in the school for my maths lessons.
With respect, Andrew, I think your priorities are wrong when you focus on teachers’ footwear.
