Efficient and meticulous planning lies at the heart of every successful project. This golden rule is clearly confirmed by the strong results of the DECODE project, presented in the annual report to the ECML by project coordinator Martina Kramar. We are happy to announce that the DECODE project team had a fruitful year, achieving all the milestones mapped out for 2025 and creating a number of significant products along the way. For instance, the team designed a template for the collection of teaching materials on Competences for Democratic Culture (CDC) in language education, collected first examples of CDC teaching materials for young learners in language education, developed the “Feedback and evaluation form” for teachers on the implementation of CDC teaching materials in language education, and published a peer-reviewed book chapter in an edited volume by IGI Global.
The final event planned this year was the DECODE implementation meeting held online on 20 November 2025. The goal was to bring together teachers and teacher educators from various European countries to introduce the steps involved in implementing the CDC-based teaching materials in schools. The meeting started with a brief overview of the project—its goals and anticipated outputs—and continued with the presentation of the CDC-based activities in language education developed by the participants in the network meeting and a group of pre-service primary teachers at the University of Cordoba, Spain. This was followed by a detailed presentation of the implementation process including the steps for the evaluation of CDC-based teaching materials in language classrooms. Martina Kramar highlighted that piloting in schools would require teacher participants to implement 3–4 activities in language classes and complete the “Feedback and evaluation form” developed by the DECODE project team and discussed with Prof Michael Byram and Prof Martyn Barrett in Durham, as well as with the network meeting participants in Graz. Teachers’ feedback will be essential for the revision of CDC-based teaching materials in language education and finalisation of project outputs.
To ensure a smooth transition to the piloting stage, which will be taking place between March and August 2026, one more online implementation meeting with all participating partners will be held in February 2026. It will be devoted to allocating topics for implementation and addressing other organisational matters. The final part of the implementation meeting was reserved for a Q&A session led by the DECODE project team and ECML programme consultant Chantal Muller, during which participants clarified their questions and gained valuable insights.
The event was a success, and in addition to marking the final milestone of 2025, it outlined directions for the coming project year.
Author: Anna Shemaeva
- ECML project website “Developing competences for democratic culture for young learners through language education” (2025-27) (available in English and German): www.ecml.at/decode