This curriculum unit is designed to expand the skills of problem solving which were taught to all New Haven Public School students in the sixth grade in 1989-1990. I will teach this unit to seventh graders this year, 1990-1991, although it can be used with other ages. The vehicle for this process will be theater. The topic for this theatrical expression is an opportunity for interdisciplinary involvement. For my purposes of writing and teaching this curriculum, I have chosen to use the story of the Amistad Affair.
The Amistad Affair is the story of a man, Cinqué and fifty-two other Africans who spent three years trying to return to their native land. During this time the liberty of the kidnapped Africans was defended in the courts of the United States by a community of New Haven and New York people who believed in the concept of freedom for all, and in its application to American citizens and non-Americans equally. In this era of newly won freedom in eastern Europe, these ideals are awakened in all of us. The story of Cinqué has the power to be an historical example of legal justice in a community. It is a story of cooperation between white Americans and Africans in the early days of our city.
1989 was the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the story of Cinqué, which is being commemorated by the city of New Haven in several ways. In the sixth grades, students studied the Amistad Affair in Social Studies classes, wrote essays for a city-wide competition, and were involved in many projects of various designs in their schools.
The story of Cinqué may also be understood as a series of actions which were the result of deliberate decisions made under difficult circumstances by several individuals who had the courage to act. Any decision taken differently could have reduced the impact or changed the outcome of the story. For the application of problem solving skills, this pattern of individual choices contributing to a whole solution is excellent. Any other teacher seeking to adopt or adapt this curriculum idea will feel free to use another topic. History, literature, current events, science, all of these are rich with stories to which the process of problem solving may be applied.
