O.K. could someone PUhLEASe clue me in on the whole issue concerning oh Jeez you know it’s knda embarrassing to say…
welll I call them Hawaiian shirts… Polyester Polynesian you know
what’s the deal with that? NO REALLY ?
You have. You have indeed. “There’s that foreign bloke who never changes his shirt!” is what they’re saying down in our neck ay the woods. They’re thinking about barring you from the 7-11, by the way.
Actually, that’s what I inferred from your kneejerk reaction to my initial post.
As far as school dress standards are concerned, it seems our ideas of what is appropriate are not really all that different, anyway - falling somewhere between the vast extremes of suits and food-stained T-shirts.
Excellent post Imaniou.[/quote]
Yes, it is!
From a student’s point of view, I expect my English teacher wearing neat and clear clothes which shows us he respect his job and students.
As long as they have good bodies and not too much hair, I’d agree with that. Otherwise, Eeeeew!
I wear the same 2-3 outfits no matter what I am doing. I always wear black trousers and sweater with black shoes, with mid height heels. Casual officey stuff. I’m cleaner than most of the scruffs in my class with their Birkenstocks and hoodies.
I don’t show respect or disrespect to anybody through my clothes. As an experienced teacher, I have developed far more fun ways of doing this.
I never notice teachers dress.
[quote=“djkonstable”]Hi everyone,
I was wondering how individuals dress for work while teaching English. I suppose it depends on the school but, I am interested to hear about how English teachers dress. I always wear a suit to interviews but I don’t plan on taking one to Taiwan.
Will I be alright going to interviews in nice dress pants, shoes, and polo or should I shirt and tie it.
Wickable polos and straight khakis may be my work clothes otherwise I wear baggy pants, cargo shorts, graphic tees and what not. A lot of skate surf style clothes.[/quote]
This is me in my English teaching outfit.
Flipflops Tshirts and shorts are the way to go in the hot weather here.
[quote=“Satellite TV”][quote=“djkonstable”]Hi everyone,
I was wondering how individuals dress for work while teaching English. I suppose it depends on the school but, I am interested to hear about how English teachers dress. I always wear a suit to interviews but I don’t plan on taking one to Taiwan.
Will I be alright going to interviews in nice dress pants, shoes, and polo or should I shirt and tie it.
Wickable polos and straight khakis may be my work clothes otherwise I wear baggy pants, cargo shorts, graphic tees and what not. A lot of skate surf style clothes.[/quote]
This is me in my English teaching outfit.
Flipflops Tshirts and shorts are the way to go in the hot weather here.
[/quote]
:roflmao: nice I think I am just going to show up in my board shorts smoking a doob and skateboard around my classroom while teaching.
[quote=“djkonstable”][quote=“Satellite TV”][quote=“djkonstable”]Hi everyone,
I was wondering how individuals dress for work while teaching English. I suppose it depends on the school but, I am interested to hear about how English teachers dress. I always wear a suit to interviews but I don’t plan on taking one to Taiwan.
Will I be alright going to interviews in nice dress pants, shoes, and polo or should I shirt and tie it.
Wickable polos and straight khakis may be my work clothes otherwise I wear baggy pants, cargo shorts, graphic tees and what not. A lot of skate surf style clothes.[/quote]
This is me in my English teaching outfit.
Flipflops Tshirts and shorts are the way to go in the hot weather here.
[/quote]
:roflmao: nice I think I am just going to show up in my board shorts smoking a doob and skateboard around my classroom while teaching.[/quote]
I thought you were American.
As opposed too? I’m a regular spicoli, well sometimes.
I thought SatelliteTV was Australian.
I was Australian… now I’m a local 
Thus the uniform Loretta was talking about. Wearing something predictable does carry a message of routine and form which students deep down want from the class. No one really cares for unpredictability and chaos. And classroom management does hinge on having a routine in place for your class (although it doesn’t mention routine extending into the teacher’s wardrobe… :eh: ).
Yes, but not all of us have access to a Hello Kitty cat o’ nine tails… No fair. :stinkyface:
You would be surprised how subconsciously your clothing does effect your students. Hell, when I wear bright colors my 4th graders practically fall off their chairs throughout class. If I wear black or gray, they still fall off them, but not as frequently or loudly. Then again, those are the hazards of teaching a room of boys. 
Loretta made me give it back. No fair.
(mind you, it had seen better days…)
I am completely grateful that we are allowed to wear shorts and sandals. Simply because of the heat. Wearing socks gives me a foot fungus and pants cause a rash on and behind my knees. In addition to these rather unpleasant and very itchy side effects, I would often show up at the office a sweaty stinky mess. And this is after showering and pampering some 30 minutes prior to arrival. Hell, the walk from my motorcycle to the MRT and subsequent MRT to office trek are enough to wipe out all the Kenzo products I’ve so generously applied to my person post-shower.
Kenzo is too expensive to waste, therefore I wear shorts and sandals. My fungus is going away, my knees (and elbows) are fine and I smell purty.
It also helps that I’m a helluva teacher. As I said, my classes are full to overflowing and my feedback is thru the roof.
Our school is also using a hip marketing campaign to attract younger students. They know their target market and even tho I am looking more downhill than up (age-wise), I can still hop with the hippest of y’all.
Of course, places like Wall Street market a certain image. Why not try the antithesis? So far, it seems to be working. It may not be to your particular tastes, so be it.
All that said, I am not wearing trashy shorts, they are respectable walking shorts. Nor am I wearing blue flipflops, but Mockidiles. And my visible ink is not mega-death-goth symbolism, but rather new-age philosophical. I even work it into my overall teaching methodolgy.
So, I say, if you can justifiably and rationally pull it off, more power to you.
Another point I want to overstate again is that I still believe you are kidding yourself and thereby setting yourself up for more disillusionment about this place, by thinking of yourselves as teachers. I’ve written about this misconception from f.com to dave’s. The idea that we are “Teachers”, imo, is ludicrous. At best I can call myself a coach. In reality, I am a marketing expense. Calling myself a teacher belittles the work real teachers do. I work for a business, not a school. I have clients, not students. If the clients wanted me to dress to impress, I’d work somewhere else. I had enough of johnny corpo imagery at WSI. Feck that!
TS, you are right. We are not much more than coaches, but then again, the approach of guiding students in learning English rather than being the be all-end all answer to everything is a far more effective approach to teaching anyways.
But again, there is a reason why “the clothes make the man” is a popular aphorism. If you wear clothes in nice repair and take care of yourself, then you present a nicer front than someone who dresses like a slob and people will treat you better and show more respect to you if you dress like you deserve respect.
Tidy casual with nothing peeking out that shouldn’t be peeking out.
Personally, you don’t want to be dressed to differently from the person interviewing you.
[quote=“Bassman”]
Personally, you don’t want to be dressed to differently from the person interviewing you.[/quote]
wife-beater, flip-flops and binlang stain … that outta cover it.
You should make this your signature line.