The reason for this project is stated in the 2010 general call for proposals (second priority): "Improving reading literacy and other basic skills: The level of reading literacy skills among school students across the EU is not improving, and in some cases falling". For any improvement teacher training evidently serves as a cornerstone. Especially the in-service training for teachers aims at direct intervention into school practice and has proofed to be very flexible in reacting to urgent demands.
The project is located within the horizon of "learning skills" but focuses on "reading skills": fluency, reading and comprehension strategies for diverse texts in all school subjects and building a stable self-concept as a reader and learner. Most urgent in this respect is to foster the so called "content area reading literacy" or "reading across the curriculum". The term "content area literacy" refers to teachers' competence to deal with reading/ writing/learning instruction not only on the elementary level in the language arts classes, but in all subjects and all school levels.
The project uses a "multiplier-approach" which means that the teacher trainers will be trained first before their teaching of a first teacher cohort is supported.
The basic curriculum will define the minimal knowledge every secondary content area teacher in the EU should have about teaching reading skills in all school subjects. It will provide 10 units of 3 hours each incl. teaching material.
Although the basic curriculum will only be implemented in 8 European countries, it will define the first overall European minimal standard for in-service teacher training in content area literacy. After being tested, the concept of the basic curriculum will therefore be downloadable on the project's website in English and the partners' languages.