The five schools of the consortium, each with different modalities and according to their own specific characteristics, intended to carry out a process of improvement of the educational offer in which the present project has entered and of which it has become an integral part, supporting the commitment to improve the teaching with the use of innovative methodologies and to offer training more in line with the cultural and social challenges of our times. In all institutes it was essential to expand the number of teachers and staff who had at least a B1 level knowledge of the English language, but also to improve the skills of teachers already able to operate in a foreign language, to ensure that the management of numerous transnational activities, both pertaining to the Erasmus+ program and of a different nature, were spread over several subjects and did not burden only the foreign language teachers. Furthermore, the need was felt to broaden the cultural horizons of the institution by enhancing the European dimension of the curriculum and develop the ability to plan training courses and activities aimed at enhancing the culture of inclusion and equality.
The SUD-EST consortium was born in 2019 from the need to satisfy the requests for training and professional updating of the staff of state schools of all levels operating in a territory, the South-East of Sicily, which, despite having seen in the last years a certain economic recovery thanks above all to the inclusion in the tourist circuits, however remains peripheral compared to the rest of the nation and Europe. It brings together two Higher Education Institutes, a Professional Institute and two Comprehensive Institutes. In recent years the teaching staff has been engaged in new challenges regarding the use of innovative teaching methodologies, including CLIL teaching and the use of information technologies, the expansion of foreign language skills of staff, strategies for inclusion of foreign students or students with special needs and for the fight against discrimination. Therefore, there was a pressing need for teachers to deal with colleagues from other European countries, to update their teaching methods, to open up to intercultural dialogue, as well as to find new stimuli for sharing good practices and a professional commitment to quality.