About me
I am an Educational Developer at the Unit for Teaching and Learning (TL) at Karolinska Institutet. My role includes teaching, training and advising on issues related to internationalisation of the curriculum, intercultural education and sustainable education. I provide support and prepare teaching staff for the challenges of the multilingual and multicultural learning space; I am involved in ensuring quality in English-Medium Education (EME); and I also provide support for educational leaders to implement KI’s strategy 2030.
From 2002 to 2015, I was Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) adviser and researcher at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Brussels, where I previously worked teaching English for academic purposes to students of engineering, business and literature. I was born in Brussels, of British and Belgian parents, and have lived and studied in Nigeria, Belgium and Scotland. I am fluent in French, English, Italian, Spanish and am learning Swedish.
Research description
Fields of research: sustainable education, internationalisation of the curriculum (IoC), teaching methodology for the international classroom, bilingual/multilingual education, English-Medium Education (EME), continuous professional development of teaching staff.
Sustainable Education
There have been numerous calls for a new model of learning for the twenty-first century whereby formal education must be transformed to enable new forms of learning that are needed to tackle complex global challenges. To achieve this vision, a varied set of competences is needed that would allow learners to act as “change agents”. The innovEd project focuses on health-related disciplines, to explore the following questions:
- How is transformative learning conceptualised and implemented in health-related disciplines and how can professional development foster the development of Education for Sustainable Development for all?
- How are language, culture, knowledge, quality systems, digitalization, sustainability and engagement best leveraged to promote equity among students and access to quality education?
- How do existing pedagogical theories and models promote transformative learning? Furthermore, how can their effectiveness be measured?
- How can we align professional development for relevant university stakeholders (administrators, teachers/researchers/supervisors/clinicians, educational developers and leadership) with the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed for developing students’ disciplinary learning, global engagement, cultural awareness, and language competence?
Internationalisation of the Curriculum (IoC)
Due to the increasing internationalisation of Higher Education, many universities have made it central to their strategic policies. Karolinska Institutet (KI) has started internationalising its education programmes and shifted focus to its defining element, the curriculum. By connecting strategic planning to student learning, the curriculum plays a major role in the success or failure of internationalisation policies. Despite the resources invested in internationalising education, the role and power of the curriculum have been overlooked. IoC breaks new ground in connecting research-based evidence with practice by applying innovative curricular design to internationalise teaching and learning. It is a consultative process involving university leadership, academic programmes, the students who study them, and the academics who design, deliver and assess them, as well as support services.
English-Medium Education (EME)
Through my research, I am investigating the link between the internationalisation of higher education, English-Medium Education (EME), and sustainable education, from global/national/institutional policy all the way to classroom practices, by reviewing the main issues raised and solutions proposed in relation to internationalisation and EME. By drawing upon research from across the world, a reappraisal of the link between EME, internationalisation and sustainable education is called for. Teaching through English is both an opportunity and a challenge for universities today – ranging from a means to enhancing the quality of teaching and learning through to a means of reinforcing global inequalities. Higher education institutions today must consider the implications of such curricular changes for their future graduates; graduates who have increasingly diverse values of teaching and learning, and who expect international, intercultural and global perspectives in the content of their study programmes. The Sustainable Development Goals offer HEIs a useful roadmap for achieving quality education through curricular reform and teacher training. If the SDGs are skilfully integrated, HEIs could very well be killing two birds with one stone, since they are so intimately aligned with the intended outcomes of the internationalisation of higher education and EME.
Scientific publications
Davinia Sanchez, Nashwa Nashaat, J. Valcke & Julie Walaszczyk. (2022), “Continuous Professional Development to Mediate Global Citizenship Education in English-Medium Education”. In: Journal of English-Medium Education: Special Issue. D. Pecorari & H. Malmström (eds). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/jemi.21020.val
M. Gustafsson & J. Valcke. (2021). “Multiple dimensions of English-medium education: Striving to initiate change, sustainability, and quality higher education in Sweden.” In. The Englishization of Higher Education in Europe. R. Wilkinson & R. Gabriëls (eds). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048553914-012
Karin Båge, Albin Gaunt & J. Valcke. (2021). “Aligning Glocal Agendas for International Education: Using English-Medium Education to Enhance Quality Education”. In: “Internationalisation and English medium education: language, policy and practice”, U. Smit and P. Studer (eds). European Journal of Language Policy: Special Issue. https://doi.org/10.3828/ejlp.2021.13
J. Valcke, R. Preet, M. Knipper & K.Båge (2021) “Conceptualising Teaching Spaces – Being, Becoming, Belonging in Higher Education”. In: Teaching and Learning in higher education: the context of Being, Interculturality and New Knowledge Systems, M. Kumar & T. Welikala (eds). Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80043-006-820211004
J. Valcke. (2020) “The impact of EMI on internationalisation: future challenges”. In: English-Medium Instruction and Internationalisation, H. Bowles & A. Murphy (eds.). Palgrave.
Karin Båge, Natalie Jellinek, Joanne Pagèze, Jennifer Valcke & Thushari Welikala (2020). Implementing Education for Sustainable Development in Higher Education. 2nd GUNi International Conference on SDGs: Higher Education & Science Take Action Summary Report. Available online.
Karin Båge, Natalie Jellinek, Joanne Pagèze, Jennifer Valcke & Thushari Welikala (14 March 2020). An International Curriculum Fit for Generation Greta. University World News. Available online.
J. Valcke & K. Båge (2020) “Stepping Out of the Silos – Training Teachers, Training Trainers”. In: Teacher Training for EMI in Higher Education, M. del Mar Sanchez Perez (ed.) IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-2318-6.ch004
Båge, Karin and Valcke, Jennifer. "4 From EME to SDG: The Journey of a Medical University". Developing and Evaluating Quality Bilingual Practices in Higher Education, edited by Fernando D. Rubio-Alcalá and Do Coyle, Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters, 2021, pp. 73-95. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781788923705-007
J. Valcke, C. Criseo, A. Disbury, A Kiraly & B. Schröder (2019). “Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities: Inclusive Internationalisation of Higher Education and the Future of the Rainbow Community”. In: EAIE Conference Conversation Starter – Encompassing All Voices, L.E. Rumbley (ed.). European Association for International Education.
J. Valcke, A. Murphy & F. Costa (eds.) (2018) “Critical Issues in English-Medium Instruction at University”. In: L’Analisi linguistica e letteraria, Anno XXV - Supplemento 2/2017. Facoltà di Scienze Linguistiche e Letterature straniere, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. Available online.
J. Valcke & R. Wilkinson (eds.) (2017) Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education: Perspectives on Professional Practice. Peter Lang.
Education
I hold a BA in Modern Languages from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), an MSc by Research and a PhD in Film Studies, both from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland).
Academic honours, awards and prizes
2014-2015 Rising Star Award
European Association for International Education, The Netherlands
2000-2009 Faculty of Arts Targeted Scholarship
University of Edinburgh, Scotland
1999-2000 Chevening Award Studentship
The British Council of Brussels, Belgium