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EPISODE 03 CONFERENCE EDITION

Projected Play: What Kids Imagine When We Ask Them to Dream Up School

Ellen Galinsky joins us in discussing the importance of executive function and social connection in the learning process. She shares takeaways from her work observing students as they engaged in “projected play,” a process in which they envisioned their ideal school, and draws upon the disconnect between their ideal learning environment and current school systems today.

Galinsky emphasizes the importance of teaching executive function to students to make them whole learners. Her work reveals what young people themselves say they need to thrive — and challenges educators to close the gap between the schools students imagine and the ones they actually experience.

"When we ask children to imagine their ideal school, they're not just dreaming — they're telling us exactly what's missing." — Ellen Galinsky

Featured Guest

About Ellen M. Galinsky, BS

BS, Families and Work Institute

President of Families and Work Institute

Ellen M. Galinsky, BS, is President of Families and Work Institute. She is a Senior Research Advisor for the School Superintendents Association (AASA) and was Co-Lead of the October 2025 AASA Summit, Real Skills for Real Life. She is currently piloting modules she created on Real Skills for nationwide distribution to school districts. She has Partnered with Johns Hopkins University’s International Arts + Mind Lab on the Youth Voice on Arts and Thriving Project. She was Former Chief Science Officer at the Bezos Family Foundation and Past Faculty, Bank Street College. Galinsky is the author of the Award-Winning book, The Breakthrough Years: A New Scientific Framework for Raising Thriving Teens (2024) and the Best-Seller, Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs (2010)

  • SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION (AASA)
  • JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY ARTS + MIND LAB
  • BEZOS FAMILY FOUNDATION
  • BANK STREET COLLEGE
Hosted By

Your Hosts for This Episode

David Daniel

David Daniel

Professor Emeritus of Psychology, James Madison University

Professor Emeritus of Psychology, James Madison University; Former Executive Director and Founding Board Member, International Mind, Brain, and Education Society; Former Managing Editor, Mind, Brain, and Education Journal; Recognized in the “Top 1% of Educational Researchers Influencing Public Debate” in the US; Co-Author, “Toward an Ecological Science of Teaching” (2021, Canadian Psychology), “Seeing Self and Others On-Screen Does Not Negatively Impact Learning in Virtual Classrooms” (2022, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology)

John Almarode

John Almarode

Professor of Education, James Madison University

Professor of Education, James Madison University; Former Co-Editor, The Teacher Educators’ Journal; Co-Author, The Mathematics Playbook (2024), The Teacher Clarity Playbook, Grades K-12 (2024), The Early Childhood Education Playbook (2022), How Tutoring Works: Six Steps to Grow Motivation and Accelerate Student Learning (2021), How Learning Works (2021), Clarity for Learning (2018), From Snorkelers to Scuba Divers: Making the Elementary Science Classroom a Place of Engagement and Deep Learning (2017), and Visible Learning for Science (2017)

Nistha Dube

Nistha Dube

MS Candidate Neuroscience & Education, Columbia University

Neuroscience & Education MS Candidate from Columbia University, Research Intern at Harvard Human Flourishing Program, Educational Consultant, whose mission is to empower individuals to cultivate intentionality and purpose in their everyday lives; Featured on Business Insider; TEDx and Keynote Speaker, whose long-term vision is to bring self-discovery techniques to schools so that youth are better equipped with techniques for developing self-awareness and making intentional decisions for their future; Author, Beyond the Skin (2021), “Test-focused Education Detrimental to Student Mental Health” (2017, CollegiateTimes)