The COVA approach reminds me of the quote, "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime." As I reflect on my time in the ADL program thus far, I will say that I appreciate the "push" of navigating through the COVA approach. I have alwasy been used to having very blunt and drawn out rules of what is expected of me. That has always been my experience while in school.
I have been in education for 7 years now, and as a dance teacher I am always asking my students to think outside of the box and to be as creative as they would like... In the same breath, I am giving them guidelines and controlling many aspects of what they are doing.
After receiving my feedback from my first idea of what my Innovation Proposal would be, I realized that I am still not really "thinking outside of the box" myself.
COVA stands for choice , ownership, voice, and authentic learning. Let's break it down a little more.
Choice: The student is in control of how they learn. In my opinion, it makes the learner feel more connected to their studies. The teacher gives guidelines, but the choice is completely up to the student.
Ownership: By having choice in their learning, they also gain ownership of their work. This makes the learner a little more motivated and engaged.
Voice: The learner can share their learning with their peers and teachers on their terms. They are in control of their thoughts and any connections that they make.
Authentic Learning: Combining choice, ownership and voice together creates an authentic learning experience.
All of the compontents of COVA create a different way of learning for students which brings me back to the quote at the beginning. Yes, we could tell students exactly what is expected of them so that they recieve a "good grade", or we can allow them to tap into their full potentional and give them freedom to have a voice in their learning. This will help them develop skills that they will need for the rest of their lives.
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