The ECML “Pluriliteracies for global citizenship” team met in Graz on 26-27 February 2026 and made significant progress on the practical classroom implementation of the 4Rs Framework (Reading across plurimodal and multilingual texts; Repositioning through multiperspectival inquiry; Reflecting via epistemic humility and compassionate understanding; and Responding through ethically grounded participation and action).

A key outcome was a complete set of tools that make the framework easier to plan with and teach from. The team finalised the alignment between the phases of a Deeper Learning Episode (activation, surface, consolidation, transfer) and the 4Rs, and agreed the guiding questions that support lesson planning, progression, and transfer. These resources will be presented and developed further with participants at the ECML workshop on 19-20 May 2026. The agenda for the May workshop was also finalised.

Crucially, working descriptor bands for all four Rs are now in place from A1 to C1, offering a clear progression pathway for deeper learning in the language(s) classroom. Just as importantly, the team strengthened the conceptual groundwork that makes these descriptors reliable in practice: shared definitions of reflection, critical (premise) reflection, reflexivity, and epistemic cognition are now agreed. This is critical for implementation because cognitive empathy – walking in somebody else’s problem – does not automatically lead to compassionate engagement. The missing link is reflexivity: noticing why we perceive, think, feel, or act as we do, and questioning the assumptions that quietly steer us. This deeper step helps learners reframe a problem and redirect action – turning empathy into compassion, and compassion into civic participation.

Authors: PlurilitCit team

Phases of a Deeper Learning Episode

• ECML project website “Pluriliteracies for global citizenship – Deeper learning in the foreign language classroom” (2024-2027): www.ecml.at/deeperlearning