After reading the COVA ebook by Dwayne Harapnuik, Tilisa Thibodeaux & Cynthia Cummings, I'm left with one very big question. What does this look like in a comprehensive classroom with thirty-five to forty students?
The book is comprised of twelve chapters wherein the authors explain how CSLE+COVA is used to create authentic and meaningful learning opportunities for students. The authors use repetition, and several examples to underscore the importance of teachers "creating a significant learning environment (CSLE) in which learners have choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities (COVA) that equips them to learn how to learn."
Some authorial anecdotes showing CSLE + COVA are used; however, these examples highlighting CSLE+COVA show its use with one individual at a time. I'm left at the end of this reading wondering how a teacher at a comprehensive high school follows this pedagogy.
Maybe it's because CSLE + COVA doesn't work well in a comprehensive setting. I can't imagine trying to mentor and coach forty students in a forty-seven minute period, which is what I would need to do if I were still teaching at the same comprehensive site where I spent the past ten years. I'm currently teaching at an alternative high school where I see one student at a time; this model makes implementing CSLE+COVA much easier and realistic.
I'm hoping that as I move through the DLL program, there are some examples of CSLE+COVA being used in a traditional class setting. I'm very much looking forward to seeing it in action.
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