Teacher Follows Dress-Up Directive Exactly, but School Leaders Aren’t Happy With the Result
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Having teachers dress up in clothing from their home country can be a great way to teach students about different cultures.
What would you do if you hated the school administrators, and they demanded that one day you dress in your ‘national costume’ even though you didn’t want to?
That is what happened to the teacher in this story, so since he was from America, he dressed in very casual clothing, which is not what the administrators had in mind. They were clearly very upset about it, but since he was technically following the requirements, they couldn’t do anything.
He gave them what they asked for, but not what they really wanted. Well played, sir. Read through the full story below to get the full details.
National costume day
Decades ago, I taught in a mediocre for-profit international school where teachers were treated like crap.
This school has some problems; that is clear.
It was weird and toxic. I knew I was in trouble on the first day when someone pointed to a plastered over door and said that they all made jokes that the wall was where all the teachers are disappeared to who got fired in the middle of the year.
That happened – the firing, not the murder wall part – but before it did, I got really tired of the bizarre infantilization and micromanagement.
The school treats the teachers like children.
They did things like convoke the entire faculty on Saturday morning from 9 to 12 for a special training seminar, and then refuse to let us go home when it was finished at 10:30 because we had agreed to stay until 12, telling us to go sit at our desks and do some work.
I hated that place.
He followed the request perfectly.
We were told one day that all of the students and staff were to wear our national costumes.
Being American, being fundamentally averse to pilgrims and situationally averse by that point to making any extra effort in that demoralizing job, I wore a big, baggy T-shirt, a baseball cap, old blue jeans, and trainers.
The administration should have been much more specific.
I was a study in absolute shlubbiness. My national costume was at the same time unassailable and in complete violation of the dress code.
When I ran into the two members of the administration responsible for the reign of terror under which we all toiled, they had faces of thunder and couldn’t say a single word.
Why does it seem like some school administrators think that their job is to make life miserable for the teachers? It only hurts the school, the teachers, and the students.
Read on to see what the people in the comments have to say about this story.
This would have made the outfit perfect.
Here is a commenter who has a good costume idea.
This commenter makes a good point.
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If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a researcher who complained about being excluded from a trip only to watch the university cancel the whole thing.
Forcing teachers to put on ‘national costumes’ is weird.
This commenter wants to see a picture.
If a school asks teachers to dress a certain way, they need to be very specific. I bet the students loved the way he was dressed, though.
His casual clothing fits perfectly with the theme, so the admins be mad.
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