Job Discussion Forums

[mcloo7]

What is the typical, or standard, or expected dress for a uni teacher. Is it slacks and a dress shirt, with or without tie? Thanks. Based on pictures Ive seen of ESL in China it seems I'll be wearing a winter coat indoors during part of the year.

[Javelin of Radiance]

Someone recommended a book by a writer named Zachary Mexico. Here's a photo of Mr Mexico posing in traditional ESL teaching garb:

http://shanghaiist.com/2009/03/20/ctn_interview_zachary_mexico_on_his.php

Take it from there Mcloo

[Baishou]

[mcloo7]

jeans are ok?

[Non Sequitur]

I've always worn jeans but watch the dust problem if your school still has chalk boards.

[Baishou]

I see that I need to be more direct here.

You will be looked upon as a clown, ergo it doesn't really matter how you dress.

I actually worked at a training center here where the American branch manager looked like an extra from "Prison Break": Spider tattoos creeping up his neck, oversized hipster ear plugs hanging down to his knees, the whole nine yards. Six and a half feet tall and the kind of imposing physique that one tends to acquire in the big house, if one hopes to survive long-term. Ironically, he was one of the most popular teachers there, despite his "scary" appearance.

I believe that most Chinese see us Westerners as cartoon-like characters, given their steady diet of Hollywood movies and American TV shows. (Think Orientalism in reverse.) Thus, if you play up to those stereotypical fantasy images that they have of us, you'll probably far more popular than if you come across merely as an "ordinary human being."

[Non Sequitur]

I was told jeans at my first school as 'it removes barriers between you and your students'.
As the CTs wore business attire I think the idea that we are of a lower status holds good.

[doogsville]

I wear shorts and a short sleeve shirt in spring/summer/autumn here in Guangdong. The shorts are golf shorts, a bit like cut down suit trousers, not denims or anything casual. I switch to long trousers and long sleeve shirt or a fleece in the winter, depending on how cold it gets. I have tattoos on both forearms, which I covered for the interview and the first few months of the first semester, but which don't seem to bother anyone now that they are 'out'. Oh, and I almost always wear sandals on bare feet. I keep a pair in the office just for work. My male Chinese colleagues almost all wear long trousers and shoes, with short sleeve shirts in the hot season and long sleeves in the cool season. I don't recall seeing anyone wear a tie.

Most of my male students wear shorts, t-shirts and sandals, so I'm somewhere between them and the Chinese teachers in the sartorial scheme of things.

[choudoufu]

[roadwalker]

I'd say err on the side of being too formal at first, but no tie. I always wear long slacks (trousers) and a button up shirt, short sleeves for hot days. I think it does help to convey to your students that you are serious about your job. If you show up in student attire and especially if you are (or look) young, it may be hard to keep order in your class. Your school may or may not care about that, but I think it helps the teacher.

[beckyshaile]

You are supposed to be a teacher, dress like any professional teacher should. You're not buddies with the students, so shorts and tees are ridiculous. Slacks, nice jeans, dress shirts, or even polo's if the season calls for it. Otherwise, go home and be a bum there.

[beckyshaile]

[Baishou]

[LarssonCrew]

In China some places don't seem to get the idea of linking dress to the professionalism. Let me give you an example.

Even though it was extremely hot, when I worked in a school sending children to Singapore, I figured I'd wear suit trousers and a shirt and black shoes to look professional, after the first class the teacher pulled me aside and said 'wear more casual, shorts and a t shirt, so they can relate.'

Then, another time I was working in a kindergarten, 35 degrees, in shorts and a button up shirt with sneakers[I was going to play soccer after.]

Imagine kiddies, pulling at pockets, ripping, grabbing onto things, etc. So the FAO said 'you need to wear a full suit.'

My suits were all made in Italy and cost thousands of pounds [from the law business] and I refused to do so, got fired shortly after for it.

For me, wear whatever. Your kids will want a connection with you, so too formal is not such a good thing[full suit, tie etc.]

[kungfuman]