Wake Up Everybody

Wake up everybody no more sleepin in bed
No more backward thinkin time for thinkin ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be so
there is so much hatred war an' poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
when you teach the children teach em the very best you can[i].

            As I was driving to work this morning, thinking about what the topic of this week’s blog would be, this song was playing on my radio.  Most of the time I will sing along in my best impression of Teddy Pendergrass, however today, the lyrics resonated with the problems plaguing education.

            I find it very interesting the first topic the song addressed was education.  Of all the topics that could have been addressed; politics, employment, etc, education, specifically teachers was the first topic to “wake up.” 

            I also find it very interesting that teachers were singled out.  Why didn’t the song single out principals, superintendents, legislators or parents? Why teachers?  Is it possible teachers were singled out because teachers are one of the most influential adults in the life of school age youth?

            From Kindergarten through twelfth grade, the constant adult in a child’s life other than their parents is a teacher.  In an average school year, a teacher will spend 1,274 hours (182 days x7hrs) with a student.  When we consider the hours over twelve (12) years the number of hours is 15,288 (182 days x 7hrs x 12 yrs), that is a lot of time school age youth spend with teachers.  This brings me to the next part of the verse, the reason behind the call for teachers to “teach a new way.”

            By asking teachers to “teach a new way,” the song speaks to the problem that teaching has become a stagnant entity which has compromised a student’s ability to become an active participant in the educational process.  Evidence of this appears in the next verse: “maybe then they’ll listen to what you have to say.” This verse implies that the results of stagnant teaching manifests themselves in students’ tuning certain teachers out or total disengagement from the educational process. 

            The final two verses remind us the influence teachers have on pathways to adulthood students’ may take.  The verses imply that teachers hold the key to the future success or failure of students’.  Students engaged in school are more likely to become successful adults.  The opposite, disengaged students are likely to struggle in their adulthood.  This is the reason for the verse “teaching them the very best you can.”

            Teachers are the adults who plant the seeds, cultivate and nourish our children’s educational growth from kindergarten through twelfth grade.  However stagnant teaching will not produce the kind of adults we need to keep our country strong.

It’s time to wake up change the way we teach our children

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[i] Wake Up Everybody by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes