Obsessing about uniforms is missing the point: Greg Whitby column

UNIFORMS have made some parents become engrossed with peripheral things like shoes and hair length and don’t focus on the most important part, columnist Greg Whitby writes.

School parents should focus on the most important thing - the children’s learning.

• ‘As you send kids off to school, I ask you to remember one thing’
• Is it up to parents to buy students an iPad?

THESE days, we know much more about how learners learn and what constitutes good teaching than we did in the past. That is why the industrial model of schooling has passed its use-by date.

Yet for some reason schools still function too heavily on principles of efficiency, uniformity and order. We become engrossed with peripheral things like shoes and hair length instead of focusing on the core — improving the learning of every child.

The majority of students wear their school uniforms with pride and parents are generally supportive of uniform policies. And schools have every right to uphold their uniform policies.

However, this is not the main game. Learning is the main game.

CEO Executive director of Schools Dr Greg Whitby says learning is the main game, not school uniforms.

It is important to keep in mind that some elements of uniform and grooming policies are there to ensure student safety and wellbeing. These are top priorities for schools and should never be compromised.

I also appreciate there are occasions when students are mischievous in the way they wear their uniform or with their grooming. Schools have a right to challenge students when this happens.

At the same time, reducing students’ opportunities to take part in learning should always be the last resort, particularly when there is no risk to teacher or student safety.

Should school uniforms be gender neutral?

I was recently told about a student who missed quite a lot of school. He failed to show up on particular days of the week. When the school asked why, the response was not bullying or disinterest or family circumstances, it was that he didn’t have the right sports shoes to wear. I find that heartbreaking.

All parents know that uniforms are expensive and so are shoes. It should never be the case that a young person feels excluded in any way because their family cannot afford the cost of all or part of a school uniform.

That’s the side that is often missed here because fitting in at school is a big deal for most students.

Uniforms can be an important part of a school’s culture but they should never define it.