Etiquette: what is expected of a professional

All teachers are professional. They know how to act in any given situation and are ready for any contingency. Well, usually. After all, they've studied for five years and, as experience grows, they understand people, especially the younger variety. And if they don't for some reason, they learn ways to fake it. You will not become part of this group id your practice of etiquette is not well honed.

As the years of experience accumulate and skills are tweaked, teacher are more fully able to understand what it takes to be a true professional. They realise that it is not their unique position in society that sets them apart. Nor is it their ability to speak on any topic for extraordinary lengths of time. And, even more strangely, it isn't the holidays. What truly marks them apart are the rules of behaviour by which they live, an unwritten Code of Conduct and Ethics, if you will.

Dear readers, most of you will have no idea what I am talking about (my tyrant of an English teacher would have corrected this grammatical error by insisting, in her gravelly, heavily accented voice: 'About which I am about to enthusiastically castigate you!'), so leet me give you a little insight.

Dress Code

Several men's dress styles from the 1890s [www.gentlemansgazette.com]

Every school has a dress code. It says so in the Staff Manual. Females should not wear open-toed shoes it says, and jeans are not permitted. However, there is a certain unwritten rule that open-toed shoes could pass inspection as long as the nails are painted and the jeans might work on the odd day when there is an incursion for the Performing Arts Learning Area or the Daily Organiser is sick. Observers of how dress codes operate might be forgiven for thinking that there is actually no dress code. Or, rather, that there is a dress code but that it varies.

Etiquette demands only that the Deputy can invoke the Dress Code Policy (except when presentation Night is looming, and then it's the Principal's job). Every other staff member must not complain about it, for to live by the sword is to end up stabbed between the eyes by that piercing glance. Any disregard for the dress code will only be addressed in a general way at a staff meeting, at most twice a year. Any more frequently and one begins to get the impression that the boss is out to get you and this is not good for the health and wellbeing of staff (otherwise known as morale). Hence, pay some attention to it.

The Code also states that only PE Teachers are permitted to wear the school-approved Physical Education sportswear (sorry, active wear), which many do with justifiable pride, even on days when PE is not on their timetable. It's a rule. It's a badge of honour.

While the women on the staff of many schools seem to have an endless range of professional "attire" from which to choose, ranging from leggings with a loose top, to a suit, the males may find the going a little tougher (or much easier, depending on said staff member's political leanings and combative attitude). Still, many find a way. In schools where a "jacket and tie" are the norm, "jacket" could be interpreted as a hoodie with a zip, or a tie may be absent because the temperature has soared over twenty-five degrees.

Some more modern and progressive schools will insist on "neat casual" as the attire of preference but even this is open to interpretation. You may get an eye-full of shorts and loafers and, when you (foolishly as it turns out) you make a comment, you will be told: "Get with the program buddy. How you dress doesn't affect your teaching ability. When you're more experienced, like me, you'll realise that." Experience can have that impact.

Ultimately the professional teacher dresses according to the self-respect you have and how much you pay attention to these symbols of the profession. I heard that from a friend of a friend. All teacher know that what they wear has no bearing on their teaching skill. They do. This has nothing to do with appearance or grooming or the way one wears a tie or even the length of a pair of heels. "Professional Dress" is just one of those dynamic ideas that it might take a little while to understand.

That said, appropriate dress must reflect the culture of the school because that's what parents notice.