Exploring the hopes, tensions, and trends shaping education today and offering listeners honest, evidence-based conversations that help you think differently about the work.
EDUcation Unscripted & Xplored is a research- and reality-backed podcast for anyone passionate about harnessing the power of education for positive change.
Co-hosted by UI College of Education professors Kari Vogelgesang and Mark McDermott, who bring together teacher preparation, K–12 systems, and wellness to ask the hard questions about what actually drives meaningful change for people and systems.
Join us as we help schools better serve students, families, and communities—and empower those same communities to support schools in return.
Latest Episodes
S2:E1 | The Spaces that Shape Us
Kari and Mark discuss the importance of “third spaces” beyond home and school and why libraries, youth organizations, and community gathering places may matter more than ever for student mental health, belonging, and civic engagement.
S1:E6 | Systems & Leadership: Building Policies That Promote Educator Wellness
What if educator wellness was the design principle behind every school policy and leadership decision? Kari and Mark sit down with Courtney Cook, PK-12 principal at Ruthven-Ayrshire Community School, to explore what it really looks like to build systems that support the humans doing the hardest work in education.
S1:E5 | Rural Realities: Attracting and Supporting Educators in Small Communities
West Burlington ISD superintendent Jason Wester joins Kari and Mark to discuss the unique strengths and challenges of rural K-12 schools, including resource gaps, innovative strategies for attracting and retaining educators, and opportunities to build sustainable pipelines so rural students have consistent access to strong, thriving educators.
S1:E4 | Everyday Counts: Tackling Chronic Absenteeism Through Connection and Care
Chronic absenteeism has surged since the pandemic, and the numbers tell only part of the story. In this episode, Kari and Mark dig into what's really driving students away from school and what it takes to bring them back.
S1:E3 | Teacher Preparation: Developing the Next Generation of Sustainable, Healthy Educators
Kari and Mark sit down with Elliott Johnson, Associate Professor of Education at Luther College, to unpack the state of teacher preparation programs, what we are getting right, and what the public gets wrong about the profession.
S1:E2 | Literacy as a Wellness Predictor: How Reading Skills Shape Lifelong Outcomes
In this episode, co-hosts Kari and Mark are joined by Leah Zimmermann from the Iowa Reading Research Center to explore how reading proficiency shapes far more than classroom performance.
S1:E1 | Why We’re Going Off-Script: Who We Are and Why This Matters
In the very first episode of EDUcation Unscripted & Xplored, co-hosts Dr. Kari Vogelgesang and Dr. Mark McDermott invite you into an honest, unfiltered dialogue about the complex and ever-changing world of PK–12 education.