The project team, experts and partners in internationalisation
A diverse project team was fortunate to collaborate with national partners and a group of renowned international experts, which enabled the Internationalisation of the Curriculum (IoC) project to use innovative and evidence-based approaches to IoC. They also took part in dissemination events at KI, which stimulated and enthused our leaders, teachers, administrators and students alike.
Involving the right people for IoC
A crucial part of the success of carrying out IoC at KI was getting the right group of people together to facilitate the process. The Unit for Teaching and Learning comprises interprofessional staff dedicated to educational development, ranging from knowledge of the healthcare disciplines to expertise in curricular development, and specialisations in international education, global citizenship education and educational quality assurance.
We were also fortunate to call upon experts in the internationalisation of support services, in communications, and in Global Health. The team, and the individuals within it, were prepared to facilitate the process by debating issues, negotiating meaning and developing common understanding together with the study programmes and their teaching staff. It was a great advantage that the team was culturally and linguistically diverse in order to generate new ways of thinking, doing, and seeing teaching and learning.
Meet the team
Karin Båge
My name is Karin Båge and I am an educational developer at the Unit for Teaching and Learning, with expertise in integrating global health and intercultural competence into the curriculum. As a member of the core group of the project Internationalisation of the Curriculum at KI, my responsibilities have included designing and delivering key activities such as workshops, tools, guiding principles, reports and information about project results as well as aligning these with the sustainable development goals.
“This project has really been an inspiration for me – it has opened up a new way of thinking about higher education in its entirety. It has provided a platform for at least two necessary and interrelated discussions among study programme teachers and university leadership – on the one hand, how well aligned current education is to the reality in which our university graduates will work, and on the other hand a reflection on what a holistic understanding of quality education may mean - from content to the context in which such content is delivered. Through discussions of inclusion and equitable education for all, I have seen teaching staff, students and administrators alike find new hope and meaning in their daily routine of training new colleagues for the clinic or the lab. Leveraging these insights for the development of the educational culture and practice in our university has meant that my work has become much more strategic, which in turn has made it easier to integrate relevant perspectives and processes in university management and decision-making structures. As a result, our work to develop education is actively supported from different stakeholders and there is a shared vision to keep improving as a university.”
Amani Eltayb
My name is Amani Eltayb, and I work at the Unit for Teaching and Learning as an educational developer with a broad background in teaching and researching in different disciplines: pharmacology, Global Health, sexual and reproductive health. I am involved with the IoC project and my tasks include Global Health education, global citizenship and sustainable education within the curriculum.
“IoC has offered us a chance to have a closer look and understand factors which support KI in developing and providing an internationalised curriculum to its students as official policy, management practices, professional development, leadership, organisational culture, as well as the possible blockers and the mechanisms KI can apply to manage them. It was an interesting experience and good opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with people from different disciplines.”
Karen Gustafsson
My name is Karen Gustafsson, I work at the Unit for Teaching and Learning as a project coordinator, with the Internationalisation of the Curriculum project (IoC). In this project my roles are to support student learning within the informal and hidden aspects of the curriculum and to engage the Support Services within the different areas of the university.
“The project has helped me develop a number of skills within my competences, but mainly it has given me the opportunity to gain new perspectives and understanding of what a "global" university should look like. It created the opportunity to take a step back and look at the bigger picture and understand how important it is to have each and every individual within the organisation involved in the journey to achieve the goals set by KI in relation to quality education."
Emma Hägg
My name is Emma Hägg. I work as an international coordinator and communications officer at the Faculty Office and International Relations. My main focus is supporting strategic internationalisation of the university’s study programmes at undergraduate and master level. I entered the IoC project in 2018. In the project my main task has been to communicate the project externally and internally in various channels and to be the link to the leadership and the assigned academics responsible for internationalisation of education.
"I have held several different positions within higher education administration for 17 years at Karolinska Institutet. Working with the Internationalisation of the Curriculum project has provided me with a unique opportunity to combine my experiences and knowledge from internationalisation, career development and communication. To work for something I strongly believe in - how we as university have a responsibility to educate culturally-agile global citizens for the future - and to do this together with fantastic colleagues, that has taught me so much and has been a true joy!"
Natalie Jellinek
My name is Natalie Jellinek and I am an educational developer at the Unit for Teaching and Learning. My background is in international and intercultural education and my role has been focused on the area of curriculum design and integration, intercultural communication and the linkages to Agenda 2030. I currently co-teach a teacher-training course at KI called “Teaching at the Glocal University”.
“The IoC framework has given us, those engaged with enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in higher education, a set of concrete tools and a clear rationale to help us guide teaching staff through the process of internationalizing the curriculum in an integral manner. It has given us, as educational developers, a common vocabulary to use with instructors and researchers so that we together may tackle the process as a team. It has been powerful and enriching to see teachers put theory into practice and discover together how to go through the steps of IoC, while also adapting them to the reality and needs at Karolinska Institutet.”
Helena Nordenstedt
My name is Helena Nordenstedt and I am a specialist physician in internal medicine and an associate professor in Global Health. I have been part of the internationalisation process at KI since 2015, from which the Internationalisation of the Curriculum project (IoC) then was borne. My role has been as a Global Health expert, designing courses and workshop activities, as well as teaching Global Health in courses for both students and teachers and finally assisting in integrating global health into the curriculum.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity this work has given me to understand how change can successfully be implemented in such a complex and slow system as higher education.”
Zoe Säflund
My name is Zoe Säflund and I am a psychometric analyst, working as an educational developer at the Unit of Teaching and Learning, specialising in evaluation and specifically questionnaire designs. My role in the project involves monitoring the integration of internationalisation into the curriculum of the different programmes, updating the IoC tools to the specific needs of Karolinska Institutet, designing and incorporating new tools to assess the impact of the IoC process on the educational programmes.
“Being involved in the IoC project has helped me broaden my understanding and interest in intercultural and international education. Being both a framework and a process, the IoC project has helped us, involved in the project, to highlight the needs that the educational programmes at Karolinska Institutet have. This way, we can better assist the programmes in implementing solutions based on data from student evaluations.”
Jennifer Valcke
My name is Jenny Valcke and I am an educational developer with expertise in international education, intercultural education, English-Medum Education and curricular integration. I am the project leader for the Internationalisation of the Curriculum at KI and my tasks included designing the project framework and process, adapting tools to our context and engaging with all stakeholders, as well as lead the team.
“IoC has really provided us with a framework and a process to look at the integration of internationalisation into the curriculum of 5 very different study programmes. Each with its own way of thinking, doing and seeing internationalisation. I have witnessed first-hand how a multitude of perspectives seated around the same table can really enhance the quality of education, but also imagine new ways forward through originality, creativity and innovation. It has been so rewarding to understand that with the right type of support and platform, entire study programmes are able to come together as communities of practice intent on providing the highest possible quality to our students.”
Meet the experts
We are grateful to each one of our experts and partners for their unique contribution, unflagging support and the wealth of insights they provided us with.
Betty Leask
Betty Leask is Emeritus Professor in the School of Education at La Trobe University Australia and Senior Australian Teaching Fellow. She is well known internationally as a researcher and thought leader on internationalisation of the curriculum, teaching and learning in higher education. She is Editor-in Chief of the Journal of Studies in International Education, the leading journal in the field, a Research Fellow at the Centre for International Higher Education (CIHE), Boston College US and an Honorary Visiting Researcher at the Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Italy.
Betty’s research is grounded in practice. She has extensive experience working in leadership roles in universities, most recently as PVC Teaching & Learning and DVC Academic at La Trobe University. Her research and consultancy interests include internationalisation of the curriculum, teaching and learning, the internationalisation of higher education for society and institutional leadership of internationalization.
Listen to Prof. Leask in conversation with Jennifer Valcke on what Internationalisation of the Curriculum means for teaching practices and for how teaching staff should be prepared for it; and how students should be engaged and supported in this process.
Recent publications
Wu, A., Leask, B., Choi, E., Unangst, L. & deWit H. (2020) Internationalization of Medical Education – a Scoping Review of the Current Status in the US. Medical Science Educator.
Leask, B. (2020) ‘Embracing the possibilities of disruption’’ Higher Education Research and Development 39:7.
Esko Koponen
Esko Koponen is Specialist in the Strategic Services for Teaching of the University of Helsinki. His main responsibility is in the strategic management of international academic affairs, including the development of programmes in English, language policy and joint educational programmes. He has over 30 years of experience in international education, having previously worked in the Centre for International Mobility with European cooperation programs and in the University of Kuopio in international student services. He is active in national and international professional associations and events. He has run several sessions and workshops on various aspects of international education in both national and international contexts.
Listen to Koponen on how to approach support services realistically and how to keep it real!
Recent publications
Jeanine Gregersen-Hermans
Jeanine Gregersen-Hermans is a researcher – practitioner with a focus on internationalisation of higher education and intercultural and global competence development. She serves as a member of the Supervisory Board of Thomas More University of Applied Sciences. Among a wide range of roles at various universities in Europe, Jeanine functioned as Pro-Vice Chancellor International, Glasgow Caledonian University (UK). She has been leading on a number of international educational partnerships, and participated in several EU funded projects, most recently as a partner in the EQUiiP Project - Educational Quality at Universities for Inclusive International Programmes (2016-2019). She is affiliated with Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and with the Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy.
Listen to Gregersen-Hermans in conversation with Prof. Ole Petter Ottersen, KI President, about the meaning of Internationalisation at Home.
Recent publications
Gregersen-Hermans, J & Lauridsen, K. (2021) International Programmes in Higher Education:an Educational Development Perspective. Routledge.
Kevin Haines
Kevin Haines is Deputy Director at the Centre for Academic Language and Development (CALD), University of Bristol (UK). Previously, he worked in international Higher Education programmes in the Netherlands, in particular contributing to the International Classroom Project at University of Groningen from 2013 to 2019. He specializes in guiding university lecturers and students in international classrooms, with an emphasis on English Medium Instruction (EMI) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP). He is co-author of the IntlUni Principles and was academic coordinator of the EQUiiP project between 2016 and 2019
Recent Publications
Kevin Haines, Monique Kroese, & Dian Guo. 2020. Language usage and learning communities in the informal curriculum: the student as protagonist in EMI? In Hugh Bowles and Amanda Murphy (Eds.), English-Medium Instruction and the Internationalization of Universities. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kevin Haines. 2020. Policy, Principles and Practices for the International Classroom at a University in the Netherlands: How do we Support the Lecturers? In González-Álvarez, Dolores and Esperanza Rama Martínez, eds. Languages and the Internationalisation of Higher Education. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Emma Dafouz, Kevin Haines & Joanne Pagèze. 2019. Supporting educational developers in the era of internationalised higher education: insights from a European project, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.
Robert Wilkinson
Robert Wilkinson I have been working at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, since 1984, currently as visiting Research Fellow. My research interests include the interface between instructional language and academic content learning and the societal and cultural impacts of English-medium instruction. As an applied linguist I worked on multilingual and English-medium degree programmes for over three decades, also spending many years teaching in industrial and commercial firms. My working career took me to many countries in Europe and Asia as teacher, trainer or consultant. I initiated the Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education (ICLHE) conference series and am currently chair of the ICLHE Association. Currently editing a book on the Englishization of Higher Education in Europe (Amsterdam University Press).
Recent publications
Gabriëls, R. & Wilkinson, R. (2020). Resistance to EMI in the Netherlands. In H. Bowles & A. Murphy (Eds.), English medium instruction and the internationalization of universities (pp. 49-75). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Resistance to EMI in the Netherlands | SpringerLink
Wilkinson, R. & Gabriëls, R. (2020). Plurilingual students in EMI: perceptions of educational democracy and linguistic justice. In M. Kuteeva, K. Kaufhold, & N. Hynninen (Eds.), Language perceptions and practices in multilingual universities: Insights from northern Europe (pp. 217-244). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Plurilingual Students in EMI: Perceptions of Educational Democracy and Linguistic Justice | SpringerLink
Wilkinson, R. (2018). Quality, internationalization, and English-medium instruction: a Dutch perspective of higher education. Swiss Journal of Applied Linguistics/Bulletin Suisse de linguistique appliquée, 107, 7-25.
Michael Knipper
Michael Knipper is a physician, medical historian and anthropologist, trained in Germany (University of Bonn) and Spain (University of Oviedo). He did clinical work in pediatrics, tropical medicine, and primary health care in Germany and the Amazon region of Ecuador. In his research, he is interested in traditional medicine and intercultural health in Latin America, as well as the social, cultural, legal and political determinants of health, with a particular attention to human rights and migration. In teaching, his focus in on a historically and anthropologically grounded perspective on the social, cultural and ethical dimensions of medicine and global health, including internationalization. He co-developed a global health curriculum and an interdisciplinary teaching program on migration and human rights at Giessen University. He was member of the UCL-Lancet-Commission on Migration and Health (2017-2018) and is now coordinating the Latin American Regional Hub of Lancet Migration: Global collaboration to advance migration and health.
Recent publication
Listen to Knipper, interviewed by Karin Båge, on the importance of thinking global and teaching local.
Meet our partners
In order to help us design the IoC process, its guidelines and ensure their relevance for other Swedish higher education institutions, we were fortunate to collaborate with three Swedish universities. We were invited to provide workshops and test out the validity of the process outside of KI on other groups of teachers in different disciplines and institutional contexts. These opportunities proved invaluable to fine tuning and adapting our tools and support.
Wasif Ali
Wasif Ali is Faculty Coordinator at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Umeå, and currently responsible for faculty-wide efforts in implementation of Comprehensive Internationalisation. He also provides strategic and operative support to the faculty leadership in research and education. Wasif has been involved in internationalisation efforts at Umeå University in various positions since 2012, and has contributed at all levels, from administrative to strategic.
Document
Mission Statement for Internationalisation for the Faculty of Medicine of Umeå University (15th December 2020).
Cecilia Almlöv
Cecilia Almlöv has been working at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) since 2007 and currently serves as the Head of the Educational Development Unit. In this function, she oversees the competence development of the university’s teaching staff. She has been engaged in the higher education sector for over 25 years and has served as Educational Developer at both SLU and Uppsala University. Her research interests have evolved from university environments and gender to her current focus, the training of new research supervisors and the development of doctoral supervision policies. Cecilia is currently completing her PhD education at the Higher Education Organization Studies (HEOS), Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. Her field of study is doctoral supervision in an international context, drawing from her experiences leading a capacity development collaborative project with Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) in Mozambique.
Selected publications
Almlöv, C., Capurchande, R., Januário, F. & Geschwind, L. (2021) Trust within Capacity Building for the Development of Supervision Training: A case study of Sweden and Mozambique. In: Anne Lee & Robert Bongaardt (Eds.) The Future of Doctoral Research. Challenges and Opportunities. London: Routledge (in press)
Almlöv, C. & Grubbström, A (2021) Cognitive Dissonance at the Entrance of the Doctoral Supervision World. A Focus Group Study on Novice Co-supervisors’ Experiences. (forthcoming).
About SLU
Patricia Staaf
Patricia Staaf's personal road to Teaching and Learning has gone through a long experience of Widening Participation work, which runs like a golden thread through her academic career. Since 1999, Patricia has taught Swedish as a Second language at Malmö University. She headed the Department of Widening Participation in the School of International Migration and Ethnic Relations and later the Centre for Widening Participation at Malmö University for 5 years. Since 2013, Patricia is the Director for the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Malmö University. In this role, she reports directly to the Deputy Vice Chancellor. Since 2017, Patricia chairs the national network of Educational Developers, SWEDNET. From 2016 to 2018, I was the chair of the Swedish network for Widening Participation in Higher Education, INCLUDE. A network providing good practice examples and resources for widening participation practitioners in Sweden.
Document
Malmö University’s page on internationalisation