School uniform policy Okay for my portfolio contribution, I analysed my practicum school's uniform policy and its affect

on my teaching, the students and teachers at the school. First a little bit about school uniform policy in general: The Victorian Department of Early Childhood Development defines a uniform policy to be any policy made by a school which sets out the characteristics of a compulsory or non-compulsory school uniform. They go on to say that typical school uniform policies include requirements and recommendations relating to: - garments to be worn -how they are to be worn -who they are to be worn by -how they are supplied to parents/ students - how the uniform policy is enforced -the exemption and review process associated with the incorrect clothing or appearance - as well as the special considerations given to the legal legislation relating to health and safety As you can see by this definition, there is much more to school uniform policies than meets the eye. At the start of this subject EDF 5806, the principle from Hampton Park High School was a guest speaker; and gave speech to us on the different policies, he as a principle dealt with on a day to day basis. When asked what the most difficult and time consuming policy was, his reply was " the uniform policy" . At the time I found this hard to believe. How could a simple dress code a school cause everyone so much grief. But having recently revisited my practicum school from first semester, and analysing the policy first hand, I have since released the affect a uniform can have on a school community. School uniform policies, traditionally, use to be all about conformity and discipline. So I asked myself, are these values really relevant within the modern education system? Where the focus of pedagogy and curriculum have moved to student centered learning approaches and developing creativity and individuality in students? And what I found at my practicum school was "yes" they still indeed are. When walking around the school for the second time, I realized how important the school uniform is to a schools image and identity. The school I was at, was a relatively new school in a low socioeconomic area. It had two year levels and was seeking to increase its enrolment dramatically. One way the school had attempted to do this was providing an image, that differentiated them within the education market locally. The public perception of the schools in the area was that they were rough < quote un quote> and achieved poor academic results. In this sense, my practicum school's colourful and formal dress code, along with schools new facilities___advertised the school as successful, modern and disciplined. Everything the school wanted to be in the eyes of the community.

So this was the purpose of the school's uniform and one of the main reasons why it was implemented. But what affect did the school uniform policy have on the students and teachers within the school? Through my time their I discovered a few things. - First of all, having a comprehensive summer and winter school uniform is one thing, but actually having the processes in place to enforce compliance is another thing I found that the policing of school uniforms had both a negative and positive effect on the school. On one hand I thought it provided some necessary discipline to the students who were often easily distracted and disruptive in classes due to the freedoms they had under the school's teaching philosophy that emphasized self directive learning and a collaborative working environment. But on the other hand, it was the source of great friction, in terms of student -teacher relationships. I mean, put simply, your professional relationship with a student takes a hit when you give them a lunch time detention and send a notice home to his parents simply because he/she wore coloured socks to class. And for me, there's just something disheartening this. - Another thing I found was that, the students and teachers morale and confidence was increased because they had a good school uniform. Comparing this school to another school in the area, I found that students' opinions of themselves and their school were much more favourable because their school uniform, and the school itself, was actually nice to look at. And I know as emerging teacher that there is indeed an uplifting effect when you enter a school or a classroom and the students actually appear like they're smart and want to learn. - I also found that, that as a teacher generally, when you are dealing with the school's uniform policy, be it reading out a school notice that talks about the transition of summer to winter uniform, or whether confiscating a ring that is considered a safety hazard; having a school uniform policy means I have to spend time away from my primary focus as a teacher, which is educating students. At my practicum school, because they had such a detailed dress code and follow-up procedures, if found their school uniform policy was very time -consuming; and often used up time you as a teacher could sometime ill afford. But overall I thought the schools uniform policy was good, it adhered to recommendations and policy statements as handed down by State government. and I came to the conclusion that the moral of the school community, student behaviour and general image of the school was significantly improved under this policy. When linking this policy to the wider academic literature, I considered whether compulsory school uniform polices were a good thing; and whether having a teacher's school uniform policy was beneficial. I also noted that school uniform policies are circumstantial and quite diverse, differing from school to school. So therefore it was difficult to find a consistent theme in effective school uniform policies.

Thank you very much.