Drive to Work - Drive it Home

Jolene Gaudet

Drive to Work is a short podcast for educators who care deeply about the humans in front of them. In a few thoughtful minutes, education designer Jolene Gaudet offers grounded reflections to help educators reconnect with why they began, and focus on what truly shapes young lives: practical, encouraging, research-informed. Created for the moments between home and school! Drive It Home is a short podcast for parents who want to raise humans with intention. In a few thoughtful minutes, Jolene shares research-based reflections to help families move beyond pressure and toward development.

  1. 5D AGO

    What if it’s Not a Student Problem, but a Design Outcome (educators and parents)

    This episode challenges one of the most persistent beliefs in education: that poor outcomes reflect student limitations. They don’t. Across classrooms, the same patterns emerge: * capable students disengage * high achievers become anxious and risk-averse * learning is optimized for completion, not understanding These are not isolated issues. They are predictable outputs of system design. This episode breaks down the underlying mechanisms: * why reading and writing require explicit instruction while speaking does not * how uniform pacing misaligns cognitive load across students * why motivation collapses when tasks lack purpose, audience, or consequence * how closed systems train compliance, while open systems build capability It also reframes AI as a pressure test: a tool that exposes whether learning design is producing thinking… or bypassing it. The implication is direct: If the design doesn’t change, the outcomes won’t either. This episode draws in part on research in: • Cognitive architecture of reading (Stanislas Dehaene, 2007; Keith Stanovich, 1986) • Explicit instruction vs discovery learning (Paul Kirschner, John Sweller & Clark, 2006) • Cognitive Load Theory (John Sweller, 1988; Sweller, Ayres & Kalyuga, 2011) • Person–environment fit in motivation (Jacquelynne Eccles & Midgley, 1989) • Achievement goal theory (Carol Dweck, 2006; Carol Ames, 1992) • Formative assessment and feedback (Paul Black & Dylan Wiliam, 1998) • Student engagement frameworks (Jennifer Fredricks et al., 2004)

    9 min

About

Drive to Work is a short podcast for educators who care deeply about the humans in front of them. In a few thoughtful minutes, education designer Jolene Gaudet offers grounded reflections to help educators reconnect with why they began, and focus on what truly shapes young lives: practical, encouraging, research-informed. Created for the moments between home and school! Drive It Home is a short podcast for parents who want to raise humans with intention. In a few thoughtful minutes, Jolene shares research-based reflections to help families move beyond pressure and toward development.