Curriculum Matters
How appropriate is the curriculum in your school? Is it meaningful ? Is it challenging? Effective curriculums stimulate critical thinking and provide students with relevant, culturally meaningful, and stimulating experiences. Here is an example of an interdisciplinary middle school curriculum unit that focuses on Haiti and investigates the country from various disciplines:
Mathematics: Students will collect, organize, and interpret statistical data on Haiti
Science: Students will identify causes and effects of environmental degradation in Haiti. They will examine the problem of overpopulation, deforestation,and erosion.
Social Studies: Students will compare Haiti to the U.S., focusing on how each nation developed from a slave-based economy to their current position in the global economy. Students will examine democratic values and traditions of both republics. Recommended Reading: Bicentennial, Haiti's Gift to tne World
Language Arts: Students will explore the major themes that emerge in the writings of authors of Haitian descent such as Danticat, DuBois, Dumas, and Roumain.
Arts, Music, and Film: Students will be exposed to the arts and music of Haiti through field trips to art galleries or online galleries,and through visits by guest speakers and local artists. Students will select appropriate films to include in a Louverturian Film Festival.
Technology: Students will design websites to attract tourists to Haiti.
Guiding Questions for the Interdisciplinary Curriculum
1. What can be known and what cannot be known about Haiti by examining a statistical profile of the country?
2. What are the advantages/disadvantages of organizing as a republic as opposed to a monarchy? How did a slave-based economy affect the development of Haiti and of the United States?
3. Haiti and the U.S. are the two oldest republics in the western hemisphere. What factors have propelled the U.S. to the top of the global economy, and Haiti to the bottom?
4. What steps can be taken to reverse the depletion of Haiti's natural resources while ensuring that the country has an adequate supply of energy?
5. Much of Haitian Histoty is recorded through the country's art and music. How does this history compare to the written history?