my secret weapon

I don’t see any way that this post won’t come across as vain and elitist. However, if you knew me well, you’re probably rolling on the floor right now as you realize that JEFF is writing about FASHION. When I mentioned to my mother that I bought more cufflinks over the summer, she laughed. “Do you even have the shirts to go with them?”

But I believe that this is an improvement over the standard business casual. For me, it’s my uniform, and like everything else in my teaching I want my clothes to be a notch above. When I’ve got on a tie and cufflinks, I take myself more seriously. My students can tell that I look like I mean business. And lastly, I feel that it’s one part of my response to all those critiques of teaching as an “easy job”. It’s easier to say that I deserve to be treated like a respected professional when I look like it.

Of course I’m not saying this replaces lesson prep, or pedagogy, or that it applies the same in all school contexts. Appearance isn’t everything. But it does count for something.

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Tangent Number One, aka “Best Laid Plans”:

I started off my first day well-prepared…except that I left my work laptop at home. A bit of a flustered start.

Tangent Number Two:

A more valid criticism of this is that I’m playing to, and reinforcing, class stereotypes. I work at one of the oldest private schools in Hong Kong, and also one of the most expensive. Class and race are knotted up in Hong Kong, always lurking below the surface. They are much bigger issues that I don’t even know how to start untangling. For now, all I can do is to stay aware of their presence.