COVA: From Resenting Freedom to Gaining Growth

After over a year and a half of classes in the DLL Program, I finally have time to look back on all of the projects I have accomplished. I have the opportunity to polish up my ePortfolio and innovation plan with a sense of pride, reflecting on how much has changed from week one, all the way back in 2019. I have learned so much throughout this journey, but one of the most important experiences I’ll be carrying with me throughout my career as an educator has to be COVA (Harapnuik, Thibodeaux, and Cummings, 2018) and CSLE (Harapnuik, 2015). What made it so influential for me personally is that the DLL program didn’t just teach us this method, having us read through a text, scan some articles, and regurgitate information onto an online quiz. Instead, they modeled it. I became the learner and they became the guide. In my sincere experience, I’ve felt the range of emotions my students would later feel, everything from frustration to complete fulfillment. So by the time it hit me, I was completely astounded at how much this concept could change my teaching.

Frustrated with Freedom

I remember signing up for Lamar’s Digital Learning and Leading Program thinking it would be like any of the other courses my coworkers were taking to get their masters: you study, you take notes, you complete an essay, you take a quiz. You repeat the process for two years and BOOM! You’re done! I learned quickly that in this program, there were in fact no tests or quizzes. You blogged, you created projects, an ePortfolio. We would be creating an innovation plan to incorporate into our classrooms and organizations. Our professors told us to read this article, watch these videos, and you decide what you want to say and what you want to reflect on. Choose whatever digital platforms you want! In retrospect, this sounds like a dream! But in the moment, I was terrified and honestly, incredibly frustrated. The recurring thought in my mind cycled over and over again, “What does this professor want from me?” and “Why can’t they just give me a template?” With each assignment I kept getting more irritated, but then finally they introduced us to COVA.

When I first learned about choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning in the classroom, I understood the concept, but wasn’t entirely sold. I began to see how it correlated to the ePortfolio and my innovation plan, but I remember still feeling frustrated at the amount of freedom given on these assignments. It wasn’t until a few classes later, “Leading Organizational Change”, that it genuinely hit me.

It was a spring day, near the end of the school year, and I ended up staying after school. In my empty classroom after tackling the whirlwinds of the day, I sat down at my desk and opened my ePortfolio. I was glued to my computer, creating new Piktocharts, graphics, and making deep connections on how to influence my peers to get on board with my ePortfolio in my reflections. It wasn’t until I looked up at the clock and realized I had been doing this for an hour straight. I was actually enjoying it! I wasn’t studying for a test, dozing between paragraphs and terms that I would later forget, I was creating something authentic and tangible. And above all else, I was beginning to realize how important my innovation plan: a blended writing workshop, truly was to me. With each class I was gaining more control over my idea, that was beginning to get transformed into taking action. I was encountering many setbacks, but I was also building something of my own that I could incorporate into my own classroom, and hopefully, many other classrooms in my high school.

Breaking Free from the Traditional

A few days later, I also made another realization: I was meant to go through that frustration for the first few months. That powerful feeling truly captured was how strongly I was still tied to the traditional (and failing) method of teaching. I was finally breaking free of it.

The traditional method of teaching wants us to create cookie cutter students: all of our learners processed exactly the same to create the same results. They sit at their desks, take notes, study, take a quiz, and repeat the process. Even though this is something I absolutely despised about teaching, when I went into this program, I subconsciously wanted it to be designed in the traditional method. It felt easier to me. I would have all the tools I would need and I would simply take the test. Once the test was done, I’d abandon the information and move on. What made my frustration escalate was that I began to realize that this wasn’t going to happen in this program. Using COVA and CSLE, it was never meant to be easy. This class really challenged me because I wasn’t going to be spoon fed information, but instead I’d have to learn by doing, by creating. In the end I realized that even though there was more effort put in, this was far more rewarding than simply writing essays and taking quizzes. I was building something of my own choice, I took ownership of my learning, I molded my voice to be shared across the globe, all through creating this ePortfolio and other activities: my authentic learning.

COVA and CSLE in the Classroom

After embracing the COVA method in full, I decided to try it on my students. I’ve done this in several different ways, but one of the most insightful experiences was with my public speaking class. For their final speech, they had to present their own TED Talk. In years past I gave them topics to choose from and a strict set of guidelines, but this year I decided not to. It was their time to experience what I felt using COVA. I wanted to give them their freedom, and to my surprise, they were as reluctant as I was in the beginning of this program.

I had about a handful of students that embraced it immediately, but the majority of the class were crowding around my desk pleading with me, “Mrs. Minger, what do you mean I get to pick my own topic? What do my slides need to look like? How long does the presentation need to be?” The traditional method was still gnawing at me, wanting to give in and tell them. I also knew that I had to let go of that control, which I selfishly still felt I needed. But I knew how rewarding this would end up being if we as a class could persist. So for the following weeks I followed CSLE. I became their guide, providing as much feedback as possible for each student with a vastly different topic than the next. I knew that all of my learners wanted to create order out of disorder. They desired to find relationships between what they know and what is new to them. My learners know it’s not all about the content, but it’s also about their own personal values and how these pieces fit together. As the weeks passed, the traditional method was slowly falling away as I began to see students rush into class to create videos and slides, using different platforms and techniques to share their message. Their own personal epiphanies were slowly unveiling itself to them: this was their own creation. The frustration was subsiding.

When the speeches began, I was in awe of what they’ve accomplished. My students took ownership of their topic, ranging anywhere from what fiction writing has taught them about reality to what life in a foster home has taught another one of my students about the meaning of family. With each new presenter our emotions wavered from laughter to insight to downright sobs. If I hadn’t used choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning and CSLE with this assignment, my students wouldn’t have gained this personal connection not only with their topic, but with each other as well.

Reflecting Past, Present, and Future

Reflecting back on these experiences, there were many things I wish I could have done differently, and there are still many things I need to continue to work on. In the beginning of this course, I was terrified to do anything differently. The last thing I wanted was to stand out. We were given all of the freedom in the world to choose what digital platforms to use to create our assignments, but I still chose Google Docs. Now, I can’t wait to explore the different platforms in order to convey my ideas. I’ve definitely grown and become more comfortable with the concept of COVA, but there are many things I’ve yet to do. I want to create change in my organization, and I’m taking very small steps towards it. Learning about having crucial conversations and leading organizational change, has opened my eyes to what being silent can do, and how much is truly flawed within my own school district.

My district has been guilty of introducing new plans too quickly, not speaking to the heart, and not declaring their “whys”. I’ve watched it unfold, I see the mistakes, and I’ve seen the foreseeable failure of their plans unfurl. Even still, I struggle to stand up for myself and the district. However, some things have changed. Due to this pandemic, I’ve been able to speak out a little more to my department on what needs to change when it comes to technology and how we implement it. It’s not something that takes place over night, it takes time.

My Learning Philosophy

My learning philosophy has also shifted because of this program. In the past, I tended to view my philosophies on education solely focused on my style of teaching. I started to realize it’s not all about teaching methods and teaching philosophies, but instead I need to focus on the learner, my teenage students. The constructivist theory, creating meaning from experience, is always something I’ve carried with me. It’s why I love the subject of English Literature. You get to really delve into the themes discussed and there is always room for more than one answer. My students and I make personal connections to each story or poem we read together. Now I am able to aide them in building their own creations and assisting them to their own critical thinking solutions.

The Carpenter and the Gardener

As I was finishing up reflecting on my accomplishments of this course, one analogy of learning kept creeping up in the back of my mind. In one of the texts we had to read by Gopnik (2016), he mentions how learning can be assimilated to a carpenter and a gardener. The carpenter is supplied all of the tools and materials to complete their final product. There is no room to think outside of the box, they can only use the materials they’re given and follow directions to create that product. Is this easy? Absolutely. However, when the product is built, there’s nothing else to do. The carpenter must go elsewhere, the product is completed.

The gardener, on the other hand, creates a space that is heavily monitored and nurturing. The gardener is not given a variety of materials or a comprehensive checklist. There are many variables to take into account and obstacles they will have to face. It won’t be simple. So what’s the benefit? This space allows organic growth, and this progress will eventually be out of our control. In this space, we need to continually monitor and work with it to watch for progress and wait for it to prosper. But eventually, we will see that it will bloom on its own. This learning is by process and patience, and it allows our students to become lifelong learners, continuously going back, reflecting, accepting failures, and progressively building on their skills.

References

Gopnik, A. (2016). The Carpenter and the Gardener. What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us about the Relationship Between Parents and Children. London: Boadley Head.

Harapnuik, D. (2015, May 8). Creating Significant Learning Environments (CSLE). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=eZ-c7rz7eT4

Harapnuik, D. K., Thibodeaux, T. N., & Cummings, C. D. (2018). Choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities. Retrieved from http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=7291