ORIGINALLY POSTED in JANUARY 2013, 2 years ago…….

The LCS community is in the midst of a discussion about school uniforms.  Parents, Teachers, and Students are engaging with the debate as to whether we should adopt a uniform for our students.  It is a debate with some passionate representation for both sides of the discussion.

What are the pros and cons?  What do you really think?

Here’s my take on the possible pros and cons.

Pros.  A school uniform could:

• Support a more focused academic environment
• Provide an environment that “fits in” to a greater degree with the local Ghanaian context because wearing a uniform to school is normal in Ghana.
• Eliminate some dress code violation decisions.
• Limit the issues that students have in choosing and buying a range of clothing choices.  This could eliminate some possible social issues around choice of dress.
• Support the building of a school identity, associated with a new logo and a new uniform
• Support parents in their discussions about the choice of clothing

Cons.  A school uniform could:

• Conflict with the IB philosophy of developing independent, critical, and responsible thinkers who make appropriate decisions.
• Limit individuality and the opportunity to be an individual based upon your clothes.
• Result in an atmosphere that is too “uniform”.
• Eliminate an attractive element of LCS (in the eyes of some, not having a uniform is an attractive aspect of LCS).

There are no guarantees that these pro or con arguments would be completely true.   The only guarantee is that in a large community, diverse opinions exist.  Therefore, the range of arguments will be true for some people.

Here are a few images of potential uniforms from other international schools.  This gives you some idea of the suggestions that have been made.

     

 

(Reminder – this was posted in January, 2013) Thus far only Grade 11 and 10 students have had the chance to submit a vote on the topic of uniforms.  In the coming weeks, other grade levels in the secondary school will have a chance to express their opinion.  While in both grade levels a majority of students are not interested in a uniform, it is important to note that there are many students who do support a uniform. It’s essential to acknowledge and respect the views of both sides with this discussion.

I invite you to leave a comment on this blog with respect to the uniform discussion.