"I'm Asian too. I love your shirt."
At first, I was startled by this studnet, and then I remembered I was wearing a shirt that had the Sandra Oh quote, "It's an honor just to be Asian," written on it.
This wouldn't have happened before the pandemic.
My first teaching job had a dress code for teachers. Men had to khakis or dress pants and a buttoned polo or buttoned-down shirt. (I don't remember what the dress code was for women). But, on Fridays, we could wear jeans! At the time, I didn't mind it too much, except for the ironing. In retrospect, this dress code was silly. It was supposed to be a way to be "professional" and engender respect, but both of these things are more meaningfully earned, and understood through actions more than clothing. Maybe it was a high school thing.
My second job was in an elementary school, and there was no explicit dress code. I wore jeans and a button-down shirt. I was working with younger students and often would end up helping out in PE or sitting on the floor. Other people dressed about at this level, while others wore t-shirts and jeans to school.
I kept up this at my current job: jeans and a buttoned-down dress shirt. I like being a little sharp, often wearing a Brooks Brothers shirt. The dress shirt made me stand a little bit taller and helped me feel like I was "at work."
And then the pandemic hit. I think I wore a dress shirt one with pajama pants for a Zoom class, and I gave up on that. While we were remote for the spring of 2020, I pretty much wore a t-shirt and yoga pants or pajama pants for all of my online teaching.
I remember the day before the first day of school in the fall of 2020 when we were going back for in-person teaching, unclear about mitigations, before there were vaccines, and scared about the school year and saying to myself, "I'm not going to dress up for school until the pandemic is over." Since then, I've worn a t-shirt, jeans, and a zip hoodie to school.
I started noticing that people saw what was on my t-shirts that I was wearing. Most of the shirts had pop-culture references and some funny sayings. I avoid wearing my political shirts at school. But, I realized through my t-shirts I could create a feeling in the classroom like a poster on the wall could. So I upped my t-shirt game.
Students love the "The Patriarchy Isn't Going To Smash Itself" shirt. I have a Ruth Bader Ginsburg shirts I get comments about, and I have a fun shirt with a cartoon of a Sheltie, which reminds me of my dog Buffy when I'm asked about it. This leads to my sharing videos and photos of my dog.
The most wonderful responses I get are around my Asian pride shirts. The Sandra Oh quote shirts get comments, and I have a shirt that simply states, "Asian-American Teacher." I get compliments from adults and other students about this shirt. The fact that I can display pride in this part of my identity and be embraced for this display in my school community has confirmed this school's values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. And I am very aware that I would get criticized for such bold declarations of racial pride in other schools.
Will I go back to dressing more formally at school after the pandemic is over? I'm not sure, but right now, what I'm wearing to school feels right. I can bring more of my full self to school wearing what I would wear at home around my family. In this time of crisis and continual trauma, being less formal and sharing who I am and what I value through what is on my shirt is what my students need from me and what I need to do to be the best teacher I can be.
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