Call for Imaginary Projects (CfIP) is now open
How would you work with students if you did not have to operate with limited resources?
How would you plan your ideal LD unit?
What job description would your ideal LD post have?
These questions are, admittedly, hypothetical, but they are not necessarily useless. In times where restrictions, whether they stem from limited resources or existing institutional or sector-wide structures and pressures, seem ubiquitous, attempts to push the boundaries can seem pointless. In an environment where having or getting a job means someone is comparatively lucky, there might be little reason to imagine a dream job.
But how do we keep motivation alive when we focus mainly on restrictions? How can we maintain resilience if we focus so much on the barriers that we forget why it is worth resisting the headwinds?
Daydreaming of what we can do can be an important reminder of what we would like to see and an inspiration to tease out a little more than initially seems possible from what we are given. (Or to emphasise the evidence-based nature of this call: ‘mental representations of a desirable future state have strong[…] motivational consequence’ at least for individuals high in achievement motivation, see Langens. 2002, 112).
That is why ScotHELD would like to invite colleagues from across Scotland and our ICALLD partner countries to a day of collective daydreaming: please contribute a presentation on your ideal LD initiative, project, setting or post to help us create our LD Winter Wonderland. Your project should be perfectly imaginary and only use evidence that suggests it could work if you had unlimited time, money, energy, and collaborators.
The committee will review responses to this call for Imaginary Projects based on two criteria:
1) Their ability to increase mood and motivation in delegates.
2) The presence of small components or elements that could be adapted to reality and inform LD practice.
Please submit your response to this Call for Imaginary Papers through this form by Sun, 11th of January 2026: ScotHELD winter meeting 2026: LD Winter Wonderland – Fill in form
We will respond to submissions before the end of Mon, 12th January 2026 and confirm slots on the programme with speakers the days following this.
We are looking forward to receiving your contributions that will help us dream together – and hopefully take some small pieces of glitter from our LD Winter Wonderland into our daily practice.
Schedule:
Deadline for proposals: Sunday 11 January 2026
Response to proposals: Monday 12 January 2026
LD Winter Wonderland Online Event: Thursday 29 January 2026
In terms of practical concerns: the meeting will be held during UK working hours, but we hope to structure it in a way that it has 2 blocks that work independently to allow colleagues to the East of Scotland to join in the UK morning and those further West in the afternoon.
References:
Langens, T. A. (2002). Daydreaming Mediates between Goal Commitment and Goal Attainment in Individuals High in Achievement Motivation. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 22(2), 103-115. https://doi.org/10.2190/TL8L-MXKE-68E6-UAVB (Original work published 2002)