Project Proposal

Topic: Dress Codes

Narrowed Topic: Dress Codes in schools, whether they are good or bad

Issue: The effect dress codes have on the way students behave and learn in a classroom

Research Question: Should schools have dress codes?

Hypothesis: Schools should have dress code requirements.

To chose a topic, I started by thinking about my major, which is Elementary Education. Personally, I attended both public and private schools, and favored the private schools over public. From there, I thought about researching whether private or public schooling made a difference in a student’s success level. However, that turned into whether private, public, home, or charter schooling makes a difference in a students success level. After quite some time at the computer, I realized there was not enough information and research that had been done on this topic.

I began thinking about ideas that were similar to my original thought, and came up with the idea of dress codes and school uniforms. Since I attended both public and private schools, I have gone to school wearing whatever I wanted, and gone to school wearing a required plaid skirt and polo. I began think, are dress codes and uniforms good or bad for a student? Do they even make a difference or play a role in a student’s education? These were some of the questions I came up with, but in the end, I narrowed it down to something more concrete, simple, and specific. I decided on “Should schools have dress codes?” as my final research question.

Discuss:

My topic on whether schools should have dress codes is relevant to a very large percent of people in America today. It is relevant to nearly every parent because of the idea that, dress codes very well may affect the way their children learn and/or behave in the classroom. In addition to parents, my topic also affects teachers and those in charge of schools who decide on whether their school in particular will have a dress code. If dress codes have a positive effect, then these people in charge will probably want to consider (if they do not already have one), requiring students to wear certain types of clothing.

Finally, my topic affects the actual students. After all, it is the students who are the ones doing the learning. If they learn better wearing a uniform, or following a dress code, then it is in their best interest that they do. However, if they learn worse, or the same wearing whatever they want to school, then they might a well have that choice to express themselves. These are all things that I will learn as I research more about my topic.

Three Citations:

1) GERELUK, DIANNE. “What Not To Wear: Dress Codes and Uniform Policies in the Common School.” Journal of Philosophy of Education 41.4 (2007): 643-657. Education Research Complete. EBSCO. Web. 30 Jan. 201.

The author argues that there needs to be a dress code in schools to keep children from wearing certain, inappropriate clothing, but explains that it is a complicated matter and is hard to enforce. The author describes ways in which she thinks a school can go about enforcing a dress code by explaining ways that have both failed and worked well. Overall, the author lists four reasons why and how a school should go about enforcing a dress code in order to prove to the reader that dress codes are not a bad, or impossible thing to achieve. The intended audience for this article is most likely either parents deciding on whether they want their child to go to a school with or without a dress code, and/or teachers and staff at schools who make the decision on whether to have/enforce a dress code.

2) Gereluk, Dianne. “Why Can’t I Wear This?!” Banning Symbolic Clothing in Schools.” 106-114. Philosophy of Education Society, 2006. Education Research Complete. EBSCO. Web. 30 Jan. 2010.

The author claims that by listing three different examples of how students were punished for wearing “religious”, “political”, or otherwise offensive clothing, she is able to show that there is a need for some sort of dress code that says what a student can wear, rather than what a student cannot wear. The author does this by describing in great detail three specific case studies. The author describes these case studies in order to show that there needs to be some common ground between not letting students wear what they want(freedom of choice/expression), and forcing them to wear a specific uniform which some argue also takes away their freedom of choice and expression. The intended audience for this article is the people in charge of deciding what students and can and/or cannot wear to school.

3) Firmin, Michael, Suzanne Smith, and Lynsey Perry. “School Uniforms: A Qualitative Analysis of Aims and Accomplishments at Two Christian Schools.” Journal of Research on Christian Education 15.2 (2006): 143-168. Education Research Complete. EBSCO. Web. 30 Jan. 2010.

The author of this text argues(with research) that school uniforms promote a more positive and successful learning environment. The author does this by providing the reader with many examples and detailed instances in which uniforms improved the overall success rate of a school. The writer provides all of this information in order to prove that uniforms have had a positive effect on public schools. The intended audience for this specific article is probably both parents and those in charge of deciding whether a school requires a uniform.

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