Little Steven takes Rock and Roll to school
Steven Van Zandt, guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, is currently touring the US with his own band, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. The “Teacher Solidarity Tour” offers free entry to the shows for teachers as a demonstration of appreciation for the work of the “most underrated and underpaid profession”, as Little Steven puts it. Before every show, a teacher workshop is held to present the project and the curriculum.
Little Steven, the man who has rallied artists against apartheid with his Sun City project in the 1980s and thus, contributed to the abolishment of apartheid in South Africa, has now launched an educational project with a double-sided impact: take art back to the classroom and bring people together.
Art on the rocks
While budget cuts threaten art classes and teachers complain about their low salaries, it is also the change of mentality that makes art education slowly disappear from the classrooms. School is often the first and only place where children encounter music and painting or are invited to be creative. Nowadays art is often regarded as unnecessary, useless frippery, a waste of time; yet, the cave drawings our ancestors have made are early evidence for man’s desire to communicate in a creative manner. Some education systems push kids to finish school as fast as possible, preparing them for their academic and professional life. What are the results? Clever young adults, excellently trained but without any or with very little general education, not to mention their knowledge of the arts.
Joseph Beuys said, “Every human being is an artist”, meaning we must be involved in some kind of artistic activity to live a normal life.
Why do we deprive kids of this enrichment of life?
Teach them what they like!
Little Steven is presenting a free standards-based curriculum on the history of Rock and Roll to teachers, called TeachRock. The lessons can be used in music, history, social studies, as well as in English literature classes. Initially conceived to reduce the drop-out rates in schools and to stimulate students to learn actively through topics they are interested in, the TeachRock curriculum aims to make students become more self-organised, critical and engaged learners. It’s a known fact that we assimilate fastest what we like and thus, increase our motivation and desire to learn.
Each lesson examines the milestones of the era selected through a piece of pop culture. The connection between text, visual and acoustic material from the decade in which it was produced, creates a deeper understanding of the political, economic and socio-cultural background. A student will discover on his own why UK punk rockers sang about “No Future” and why the displayed aggressiveness of the speakers for the have-nots provoked the rich establishment.
Little Steven and teachers after the workshop in Italy. …. three that are ready to teach rock!!
Between the lines of lyrics …..
Inspired by the Active Learning model, the TeachRock curriculum sets a framework that encourages students to become more involved in the learning process. Mostly material from the entertainment industry is used to achieve an important and valuable objective: to form engaged students that are able to analyse contents on their own and to call them into question.
Rock and Roll had spread fresh ideas, offered an intercultural experience, forged new paths in communication and delivered messages through songs. After all, it's not for nothing that Bob Dylan’s unconventional song texts made him win the Nobel Prize for Literature!
Rock ‘n Roll rocked the world
In contrast to classical artistic forms of expression, be it music, dance or fine arts; popular culture has never before been regarded as a fully worthy subject for studies, least of all in the classroom. TeachRock does not only acknowledge the influence of rock and roll; the project is an invitation to search for the reasons of its success.
Steven Van Zandt very impressively illustrated the beginnings of Rock and Roll in a dancehall: “…there was a rope that split the room, with one side for the white kids and one side for the black kids”. Alan Freed was the first white DJ to play “race records”, later called R&B, on his show “Moondog Rock ‘n’ Roll Party”. A generation’s zest for life, in search for more individual freedom developed into different styles. While white kids played black music, Rock ‘n Roll had become the vehicle for change of an entire generation.
Over the years, Rock and Roll moved to new shores, criticising the rules of a society that seemed unfair and obsolete. Rock n’ Roll was not only rebellious and praised individuality, it also called for open-mindedness and tolerance, for equal rights and freedom.
Teach Rock and Roll to avoid society’s mistakes of the past
Over the last few years, society has repeatedly reminded itself of these values to counteract social exclusion and marginalisation. Music is a universal language, that transcends borders, that can bring people together and that promotes mutual understanding and social harmony. Teaching kids the importance of harmony and peace is a powerful tool of civilisation and of an advanced culture. Critical, engaged citizens are the basis of democracy. This is the underlying philosophy of TeachRock; it confers depth and significance on this education project.
Again, Little Steven is doing the right thing in the right way. Bravo, Maestro!