What I learnt from The Boss (and the band)

 In Week 1 (and a bit) of Network Narratives there have been two questions for me:

1. How can education be subverted?

2. What do I think about this course theme: Post Pandemic University (PPU)

These are extracted from the facilitators introduction and not asked directly. With another open participant, Terry Elliott (@telliowkuwp), we have been discussing these questions via the margins using hypothes.is. Terry suggested that the answer to question one might be GameStop. I'll leave that right there!

Terry suggested The Boss, aka Bruce Springsteen in this performance of the Chuck Berry song: You Never Can Tell (Leipzig 7/7/13) (Official Video) might be the past predicting the future and what a PPU might look like.

Martin Weller suggests in his recent blog that stories and metaphors are two main ways that people make sense of the world. I'm going to use this performance as a metaphor for a PPU.

Bruce has over 50,000 students and he starts with a key. He frames this around his voice range and what might be possible. By trying different keys and singing the high part of the song, he can choose the correct one. This might be like choosing our courses at Uni or the career path. We choose something that appears to be in our range and interest. His side kick reminds him of the main theme of the song which he appears to ignore until min 1:34.

Then he teaches the eStreet horns and the crowd the spine of the song. This is an ear worm, it stays with you for the whole song. This might be the curriculum. That thing you are supposed to 'learn' in the 'course'.

C'est la vie say the old folks
Goes to show you never can tell!

Then the feature solos start. The trombone sticks to the script pretty much (min 4:50), the first trumpet gives us some fancy cupping work but our ear can hear the spine through it. The saxophone plays it safe and even sucks up to the teacher with a dance. Then Barry on trumpet (min 5:52-6:18).....ah Barry!

For me this is the highlight of the whole piece. He subverts the spine that he has been 'taught' and the camera man doesn't even know what to do here. Bruce does not look at all surprised and the other band members just zone out and try to take in the crowd. While Barry starts on the curriculum, he dives off into another key that shatters the ear and makes you sit up in your chair. He mocks the fundamental curriculum with the jumping stair-like notes before falling off the cliff and even ignoring the drums. He completes his section and then blends back into the band like as if nothing had happened. His mastery of the instrument shines through in the ability to play something off key, off rhythm and mock the curriculum which is the basis of all improvisation.

If pandemic times has taught us anything, it's that we have to get used to things being unpredictable. This is the PPU. We can be taught the spine of the course but we all need a bit more 'Barry' and throw a cog in the wheel and improvise a bit because you just never can tell!