What do I wear when teaching?

[shogoz]

i think the best thing to do is to ask the employer what you should wear, different schools have different perspectives of how teachers should dress.

[leecian]

Neat casual attire will do.

[kdavid]

Neat casual is generally good enough. I'd like to dress up more, but as I'm always teaching kids (sometimes very young kids) I've often found my nicer shirts to have all types of colors and glue and other odd things stuck on them after class. So, I don't wear anything to class that I'd wear to a business meeting (though my attire still has a business casual look).

[leozeh]

I think it all depends on the kind of group you have.
I'd only advise u to wear fancier clothes when teaching Business.
However, it is always a great idea to surprise your students.
I read a book a long time ago called "Breaking the rules" - can't remeber the author now - He said it is always nice to break the rules of the classroom, especially the teacher. For example if you always wear shirt and jeans, one day you could just show up wearing something totally different. I did this many times before and it worked pretty well!

[Willie]

I prefer to wear something like a nice pair of trousers, leather shoes and business shirt. During winter, I may like to throw on a nice jacket or a knit jumper.

Is that too dressy?

I don't really know. I think it depends on the school also. Private and public schools.

[kdavid]

I was always told to dress one-notch above your students. You're still an authority, yet you don't look "so professional" that students won't relate to you.

[EF English First]

As an employer for schools in Asia, EF requires teachers to wear proper shoes (not sandals or trainers), smart trousers/skirt (not denim or ripped etc.), smart shirt/blouse/top. In addition men are required to wear a tie. A jacket or suit is not required.

Best of luck with the new job

Teach English In China, Indonesia & Russia | EF English First

[JustR]

Originally Posted by kdavid

I was always told to dress one-notch above your students. You're still an authority, yet you don't look "so professional" that students won't relate to you.

I agree with this. But at the same time you want to relate to the kids in order to help them and earn their trust.

[megsaw]

Hi, We were told when doing our prac not to wear jeans. Yet noticed alot of teachers did. So guessing depends on the school.
Meg

[gfell]

Yeh, depends on the classes and students. If teaching children, jeans is most often the case fine.