Monday 11 October 2010

Codes…

Following on from Longrider’s highlighting of the US’s new code for gay – ‘cat lover’ – it seems we have a new code for ‘irritating, grandstanding, attention-whore show off who thinks rules everyone else obeys shouldn’t apply to him’.

That being ‘bright and colourful’:
Now teaching at a special school, the married father of two, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, is sticking to his no-tie rule.

I don’t work in an office, I teach music and drama.

‘I’m a bright and colourful character and how I dress reflects that
,’ he said yesterday.
How you act reflects it too, though ‘bright and colourful’ isn’t the wording most people would choose…
And not only did he refuse to comply, but he promptly sued the well-regarded Roman Catholic grammar school where he was teaching, accusing it of sexual discrimination and breach of contract.

After being threatened with hefty legal costs, he finally backed down.
Hurrah for hefty lawyers fees (for once)!
After refusing to comply, Mr Smith was told to leave, so forfeiting the £150 he had been due to be paid for a day’s work.

The teacher, himself a Catholic, wrote to the school demanding it pay him, quoting its motto, Vitam impendere vero – ‘To lay one’s life down for the truth’.
Or, indeed, for the right not to wear a tie. Though I can’t see any school getting that translated into Latin for a motto…

The chutzpah is strong in this one, though:
… he took it to a tribunal for breach of contract as well as sex discrimination, on the grounds that female teachers weren’t expected to wear a tie.
I’d suggest putting this almighty ego in a skirt to teach him the folly of his approach, but he’d probably welcome its attention-getting properties.

He’s clearly one of those teachers:
Times have changed and wearing a tie doesn’t necessarily mean you’re smartly dressed these days – I see plenty of teachers wearing ties with cartoon characters on.

‘I feel I’m a good, positive role model and to me the school’s attitude is out of date and frankly Dickensian.

A lot of kids have said I dress quite cool and I’m not boring, and I think that helps me make a connection with them.’
I think we can all agree that that’s the most important thing, isn’t it? That the kids you teach find you ‘cool’?

The school is well rid of this clown:
A spokesman said: ‘St Ambrose College was fully prepared to take this case to court.

‘The school sets high standards for its pupils and naturally expects the same from the staff.

‘The supply agency was fully aware of our policy and is backing us in our stance.
‘We completely refute any suggestion Mr Smith was humiliated, and it was rather the situation he was rude to a senior member of staff with 20 years’ experience at the school.’
Good for you! It’s about time that someone took a stand. Enjoy your fifteen minutes of fame, Mr Smith. It’s all you’ll get…

11 comments:

Richard said...

Scools are infected by this kind of attention-seeking, look-at-me, down-with-da-kidz, egalitarian twit. I would include in that description female teachers who turn up looking like bag ladies because looking smart is giving in to the patriarchal system. Good on the school for standing up to him. The issue is not how he dresses - that is up to the school itself to set out. Suit, t-shirt, pyjamas, whatever. It's the fact that he considers it his right to dress how he pleases and thinks that his employer has no right to tell him otherwise.

Timdog said...

Our economics teacher was one of these - he wore brightly coloured felt (I know, but that's what it looked like) blazers. He thought he was our mate, and we let him think so 'cos it made our lives easier. This man sounds equally deluded.
They should also have fired him for being thick. It's small wonder kids speak so badly (or bad, as he might say) when a teacher says "A lot of kids have said I dress quite cool". Fail, Mr Smith, fail.

Longrider said...

Clearly he doesn't understand how the sex discrimination act works and he really, really should have looked at the case law before shooting from the hip. Schmidt -v- Austicks Bookshops Ltd would be a start.

Employers are allowed to impose different dress codes on men and women providing that they apply equally restrictive codes and they are written down and consistently applied. So, there is no need to impose a ties rule for women as this is not a normal mode of dress for them. Requiring standard business dress for both sexes would allow for men wearing ties and women not.

Anonymous said...

The leisure studies lecturer slung his hammock on the beach. This was part one of his teaching, a variety of beach enjoyment being the rest. A management learning consultant entered the lecture, tossed a cabbage and a few potatoes to the audience, announced this was a learning experience and left.

I knew the actual guys. Trouble is, they were better than the mainstream Death By Powerpointers.

The Dutch middle class once tried to make it against the law to wear smart clothes like them, if one was of the lower orders. I'm still protesting against that when I don't wear a tie. I always wear clean underpants though. Thanks to Mother, I live in mortal dread of being run over by a tram and the ultimate embarrassment of being caught in dirty trollies. This should be enough dress code for St. Ambrose.

James Higham said...

How you act reflects it too, though ‘bright and colourful’ isn’t the wording most people would choose…

In a nutshell - yes.

Captain Haddock said...

"A lot of kids have said I dress quite cool" ..

Ahh .. so he's the sort of Teacher who, in support of his own desires to buck the rules and regulations, canvasses the support of those to whom he's supposed to set an example ??

If he so dislikes the rules & regulations (which must have been in force when he first took the job) .. then may I suggest he takes his somewhat dubious "talents" to Iran .. where no-one (not even Pres ' I'm a dinner jacket' wears a tie .. he should fit in rather well ..

SadButMadLad said...

That a typical left fluffy wuffy attitude to have. Teachers are not supposed to look cool. Teachers are authority figures and kids are supposed to follow their orders. Looking cool does not give you authority. You need authority in which to control a class and ensure that they learn rather than mess about.

The only way teachers can be cool is to teach in imaginative ways.

Bill Quango MP said...

Great post. Always gems here.

Anonymous said...

Well THIS Teacher wears a suit and tie (quite the change from before I entered Education). As a Teacher I have a responsibility to set an example and frankly this gentleman lets the side down.

banned said...

@Timdog, most of my school education (1970s) was given by men in jackets and ties (except for PE).

I realised that things were going downhill when, in the Upper VI, we were presented with a new economics teacher wearing purple flares and a green shirt with no tie, he came from some Polytechnic or other.

He tried to be our friend and we persuaded him that it was OK to smoke in class since we were 16yo. Gimp.

JuliaM said...

"...infected by this kind of attention-seeking, look-at-me, down-with-da-kidz, egalitarian twit."

Indeed, and he no doubt considers himself a brave seeker of 'truth'.

Yet he is, in every sense, the total opposite of the likes of Ms Birbalsingh. Now that's bravery.

"It's small wonder kids speak so badly (or bad, as he might say) when a teacher says "A lot of kids have said I dress quite cool". Fail, Mr Smith, fail."

"Clearly he doesn't understand how the sex discrimination act works..."

Indeed. Remarkably poorly educated for a teacher.

" I always wear clean underpants though."

Of course! ;)

"Teachers are not supposed to look cool. Teachers are authority figures..."

Yet so many of them, despite their whining about 'lack of control', don't seem to want authority. You see, wielding authority means making judgements, and that's a dangerous game to play, these days...

Much safer not to wield it.

"He tried to be our friend and we persuaded him that it was OK to smoke in class since we were 16yo. Gimp."

Can anyone imagine that today? He'd probably be prosecuted.