DECODING THE DRESS CODE
UNMASKING INEQUITIES IN SCHOOL DRESS CODE POLICIES
BY ALYSSA GRAY-T YGHTER I
n December 2020, an educational as- sistant in Treaty 4 territory told a 10-year-old Nakawe
- student that her
ribbon skirt was not formal enough for their formal wear day at school. In January of the same year, Texas teen
DeAndre Arnold was suspended for wear- ing locs that did not comply with his school’s dress code; he was told he would not be able to walk the stage at graduation unless he cut them. In March 2021, a female student in Kamloops, B.C. was sent home after her out- fit was deemed lingerie by her teacher. The outfit in question was a knee-length black dress with lace trim at the chest worn over a white turtleneck. A month later, the French senate voted to amend a proposed law ban- ning girls under 18 from wearing hijab under the pretense of women’s empowerment. It’s easy to look at these instances of egregious dress code policing and think that our in- stitutions would never stoop so low, but the seemingly innocuous dress code rules in our public schools, designed to maintain a posi- tive learning environment, say more about dominant beliefs in the public education sys- tem than we realize.
26 ETFO VOICE | SUMMER 2021 I remember being in Grade 8, wearing a
new Allen Iverson jersey dress I had just got- ten. I paired it with pigtails, a white visor and cute white sneakers. I felt every bit as cute as I should have, but upon entering school, I was told to put on pants if I wanted to con- tinue wearing my jersey dress (it did in fact touch my fingertips.) and to take off my hat. I watched another girl with a slimmer phy- sique in her sun dress that day. It was the ex- act same length as my jersey dress; she didn’t face one ramification for her choice in attire. This wasn’t the first time my clothing would be a topic of discussion and certainly not the last. Fifteen years later, I watched the same narrative play out in front of me as a teacher. A Black female student wearing shorts was walking down the hall in near proximity to her slender white peer. A male staff mem- ber tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I could have a conversation with the Black girl about her choice of shorts. I was morti- fied. I had no idea what to say to this young girl whose outfit reflected the summer heat (need I remind you that our schools are not air conditioned?). In that moment, I realized that for all the equity and inclusive education
work we’ve done and with all the culturally responsive teaching we’ve raced to consume, we’ve seemingly neglected to take a look at these rules that govern our profession and guide our frameworks for educating youth. If the pandemic has taught us anything
about school culture and climate, it’s that the buildings we hold dear are much more than places of learning. They are hubs for creativ- ity, socialization and self-expression. I would go a step further and say that true learning does not occur until we’ve actualized stu- dents’ hierarchy of needs and, while style of dress may seem trivial amongst the need for food, water, safety and belonging, these esteem needs are particularly important for a young person’s sense of self. As educators, we know that motivation amongst students increases as their basic needs are met, and isn’t the goal of education to motivate our students to be self-starters and develop a genuine love for learning that lasts far beyond our classrooms? I want my students to want to come to school every day, or at least most days. I want them to be excited about being in my classroom because it feels like a place of support and understanding, and I can’t
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