Graduate Program

Curriculum and Instruction

Degree Name

Master of Science in Education (MSEd)

Semester of Degree Completion

Summer 2024

Thesis Director

Amy Davis

Thesis Committee Member

Angela Glaros

Thesis Committee Member

Alexis Jones

Abstract

What you wear can feel like a defining aspect of who you are as a person. For high schoolers especially, how they look on the outside, can affect other factors such as their sense of belonging and safety both within their school and their community. In this study, I conducted focus groups at a high school which requires uniforms to be worn. Through the focus groups, I was able to learn how wearing a uniform impacted them on a daily basis. During the study I was also able to observe at the school for a day and note the trends within how the students styled their uniforms such as within their shoes, hair, earrings, and make-up. The findings of this research implicated that students rebelled against the uniform policy, however they did not mind that there were policies in place as they did not have to choose what they wore in the morning. The study also found that the students did not wear their uniforms into the community. In discussing this point, a potential reason for this could have been that their uniforms represent their wealth and status within the community which can also serve as an identifier.

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