Are Influencers Shifting Teaching Standards?
Teacher Bae - pouts, likes and snaps right from the classroom
You may wonder why the collage is blurred? Well the simple answer is I’m not encouraging the movement of Teacher Bae point blank.
Do you remember what it was like being in school as a student?
I remember most of our teachers being strict, professional, some were funny, others appeared clueless yet the main thing is that they were there to teach…
The shift…
One of my sisters sent me a video in which a YouTuber Michelle MCDaniel talks about the rise in teachers calling themselves ‘Teacher Bae’ on social media.
They are not simply calling themselves this name, they’re encouraging their students to partake in snapping photos and filming them as they strut as if on a catwalk…
Not enough for side eyes? Well, these teachers are posing, pouting, blowing kisses and some videos include audible comments from students expressing admiration as they do this.
Now if this doesn’t raise your eyebrows then we have a completely different view on education and I’m open to hear your reasons. I will also present some opposing views in this post.
As both an educator and a parent, when this was brought to my awareness, I thought it was some sort of joke. Surely any teacher is aware that they are there to teach the academic curriculum? Well apparently not…
Now, I’m all about embracing quality changes, yet this video highlights a shift that to both my sister and I as well as many other viewers seems unsettling!
Let’s jump in!
What is Teacher Bae?
Teacher Bae is an influencer who portrays themselves as sexy online while in their day job - being a teacher.
An influencer is an individual who may use charm, their looks, personality, knowledge and skills blended with sales tactics to influence their audience to buy products or services via social media platforms.
To become any type of influencer, you need to have a huge following. This is why these teachers tag themselves with this title, it draws people in and many follow.
Can a teacher be an influencer? Yes.
Can a teacher work online to sell something? Yes.
The issue here is the blurring of lines of the individuals who are encouraging their students to snap pictures for their socials not to educate others or to show how great their teaching methods are, but with a clear focus on how hot they look as a teacher.
Is this part of the school curriculum or teaching standards? No.
I don’t give two hoots how attractive a person may be, using their looks to flirt with students and get them to take part in this circus is a huge red flag!
These teachers are getting their dopamine hit from the surge of likes and sharing of their photos / videos as well as the admiration that some of their students are displaying.
Whether you are a parent, educator or not, ask yourself, is this acceptable behaviour?
Now imagine when you were a student at not only secondary school but primary school, would your parents be happy to learn that your teacher’s priority is for you and your peers to see them pouting, strutting, shaking their butts, playing with their hair, putting on a show before they even bother to do the register? Let alone teach you anything.
When did being a teacher become about being a ‘bae’ in the classroom and involving students?
Looking good is subjective and may be a top priority for many, there is a difference in looking “good” and looking “sexy”. Yes they can both be part of the same form yet a person doesn’t have to wear the least amount of clothes to feel their best and then to ask for attention from their students and strangers leaves me thinking they have some deep, unresolved issues that are playing out here.
I’ve not heard of any schools where there aren’t any dress codes for students and staff. If you know of any, let us all know…
Why might this Teacher Bae movement be a concern?
The world of social media has already got many into a trance, phone addiction, a decline in quality social interaction e.g. families out for dinner with all heads glued to phones…
Friends who meet up after years and still their devices demand their attention…
People are stood in concerts filming the entire performance instead of taking it in, need I say more?
This movement of Teacher Bae is not only encouraging students to have no control over phone usage it is putting them in a situation that isn’t appropriate.
It’s shifting teaching standards to an influencer / social media standard which is on a completely different scale.
On another perspective - Teachers should get paid more so if this helps them as a side hustle why can’t they do this? They are engaging the students and perhaps it makes their lessons more enjoyable and relaxed.
Teaching is not a sales pitch about promoting the provocativeness of a teacher. Now evidently I’m referring to teaching in school settings, not that of a certified intimacy coach.
These teachers are working with students from ages 5 to 16!
Teachers dressing as if they are going to a club / party is nothing new… I’ve taught in schools where a very small percentage of teachers have done this but nothing about their outfits were revealing and their teaching methods - professional, bar one which we’ll get to soon…
On a different perspective - Who should dictate how anyone dresses? History shows us a dress reform in the 19th century giving women more rights to dress as they wished, so why is there a problem now? If the teachers and students feel comfortable in what these teachers are wearing, what’s wrong with looking cute? Maybe students may listen to them more?
Indeed a dress reform happened, at that time, women were restricted to wearing very tight corsets. This would’ve been very uncomfortable, comfort here is about not having physical pain not the ability to ignore specific policies that apply to all staff regardless of gender.
Wearing whatever a person feels like when it’s against the workplace’s policy and is seen as very inappropriate can result in that individual getting fired from their job (in educational settings).
When I was 21, I worked in a secondary school as a Learner Mentor and kept hearing students talking inappropriately about a particular teacher including the colour of her underwear. I had to address their behaviour and didn’t understand why they were talking in this way until one day I walked one of my mentees into that teacher’s class.
Not only was she dressed very revealingly (she was sat on her desk with the shortest skirt and a see-through top), she was very suggestive with her tone, posture and movements. I was new there yet I knew this wasn’t right so had to speak to the lead mentor about this even my 14 year old mentee rolled their eyes and wanted to leave.
Her actions gave mixed signals to some teenagers, even to the point that they didn’t see an issue with slapping staff members on their bottoms while they passed through the corridor / hallway.
Now imagine being 21 and people think you’re a six-former (age 16-18) but you work there, what are the chances as a female of this happening to you? Very high and this is just one example of why a dress code and professional behaviour are very important.
Unless a person is living under a rock, we’ve all heard of cases where teachers have had inappropriate relations with students, in some cases the students ran away from home, thinking they were “in love.”
These people could easily work in a different field, fashion, modeling, adult entertainment, film etc.
Now this is not written to shame sexiness as women have the right to feel like that if they choose to and a person can look ‘good’ without flaunting it especially to students.
A teacher is there to teach, to safeguard, to add value to the students’ education and actions such as the Teacher Bae movement is encouraging students to feed into the objectification of women no matter what job they have.
These teachers may be incredible at their jobs, there is no evidence of it…only the displays of pouts, winks, their derriere extended while they face the board and peer back…
And oh you thought this was just about women?
Well no…
There is also male Teacher Bae posts with the same type of poses, pouting, winks etc. Although they are not dressed in short skirts and see-through clothing, they are wearing shirts with a lot of undone buttons revealing how their chest looks…
The outrage online has been mainly focused on the females as they have caught more attention and far outrun the amount of men taking part in this shift.
Are influencers shifting the education system? Has it gone too far?
Some people believe that there is nothing wrong with the Teacher Bae movement as people should be able to choose how they present themselves. Many others have a huge issue with it.
What do you think?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, leave a comment below.
𝓒 𝓢𝓲𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓮 ✨
Video references:
Teachers Don't Know How To Dress Anymore and It's Getting CREEPY
Thank you for restacking @developia appreciate you!
What a fascinating perspective. As a former educator, I really love that your dove into this!!