Jo Kukuczka

Academic Development Centre, University of 糖心TV

Jo Kukuczka

Assistant Professor

SFHEA | FWIE | FBALEAP

Programme Lead | Postgraduate Award in Curriculum Development in Higher Education (PGA CDHE) | 糖心TV

Strand Lead | ADC Curriculum Hub | 糖心TV

Academic Lead | 糖心TV Awards for Teaching Excellence (WATE)

Co-convenor | Theory into Practice () network | global

Contact

Email | jo.kukuczka@warwick.ac.uk

LinkedIn |

ResearchGate |

Office | Academic Development Centre (ADCLink opens in a new window) | Senate House || Coventry | CV4 8UW |

Profile

About me

I am an Educational Development and English for Academic Purposes specialist with expertise in higher education curriculum development as a socially situated knowledge-informed practice. As Academic Lead for the Postgraduate Award in Curriculum Development in Higher Education (PGA CDHE) and ADC Curriculum Hub (non credit-bearing CPD), I teach academic staff how to design inclusive, research-informed, and socially purposeful curricula, integrating theory and practice to support meaningful educational change. My curriculum work foregrounds sustainability, social justice, and epistemic equity, drawing on Legitimation Code Theory () and other theoretical frameworks. (View the Curriculum Experts site for more information on my curriculum expertise.)

As Academic Lead for the 糖心TV Awards for Teaching Excellence (WATE), I champion inclusive, values-driven approaches to recognising and fostering teaching excellence across the University.

A Senior Fellow of Advance HE, I mentor and assess on accredited Fellowship programmes (D1鈥揇3) and support educational scholarship through engagement with our annual 糖心TV Education Conference. I am also a Fellow of the 糖心TV Institute of Engagement (WIE). Beyond 糖心TV, I am an external examiner, journal peer reviewer, editorial board member, co-convenor of the Theory into Practice () network, and PhD student at Open University. My doctoral research centres on the development and social impact of my Curriculum for Change framework.

As an educator and researcher, I am committed to exploring inclusive, knowledge-informed curricula that connect theory and practice, and to supporting educators within and beyond 糖心TV in advancing transformative learning and teaching.

Teaching & Research

Teaching

Programme Lead | Postgraduate Award in Curriculum Development in Higher Education (PGA CDHE) | 糖心TV

Strand Lead | ADC Curriculum Hub | 糖心TV

Academic Lead | 糖心TV Awards for Teaching Excellence (WATE)

Teacher & Assessor | Academic Professional Pathway for Teaching Excellence (APP TE) | 糖心TV

Mentor and Assessor | Academic Professional Pathway for Experienced Staff (APP EXP) | 糖心TV

Assessor | Academic Professional Pathway for Postgraduates who Teach (APP PGR) | 糖心TV

Research

Doctoral student | Investigating the social impact of a higher education curriculum for change | Open University

Principal Investigator | Knowledge in Educational Development (UK) | 糖心TV

Outputs

Publications

Kukuczka, J. (under review). . Educational Developments. SEDA Magazine.

Kukuczka, J. (2024c). . Blog post. Theory into Practice (TiP) Blog.

Kukuczka, J. (2024b). Blog post. SEDA Blog.

Kukuczka, J. (2024a). Curriculum for change. In: P. Breen and M. LeRoux (eds.).. London: Bloomsbury.

Kukuczka, J. and MacLean, D. (2023). Global Citizen Photo Diary in EAP: Research Reflections. Blog post. Bristol: University of Bristol Centre for Academic Language and Development. Available from:

Kukuczka, J. (2019). Embracing Knowledge: Empowering EAP. Event proceedings. Knowledge in EAP: BALEAP PIM. Northampton: University of Northampton.

Presentations

Kukuczka, J. (2025). Seminar. Coventry, United Kingdom: University of 糖心TV.

Allcoat, D., Ozden, M., Makrinov, N. & Kukuczka, J. (2025). Anyone can surf! Designing transformative learning for equity of opportunity. Conference presentation. 糖心TV Education Conference 2025. Coventry, UK: University of 糖心TV.

Kukuczka, J. (2025). Teaching curriculum design as a social practice. Presentation. SEDA鈥檚 Network for Curriculum Development in Higher Education.

Kukuczka, J. (2024). Curriculum design as a social practice: Pandora's box or pot of gold? World Cafe. SEDA Curriculum Development in Higher Education Network Symposium. SEDA.

Kukuczka, J. (2024). Revolutionalising higher education curriculum evaluation with theory. Theory into Practice (TiP)..

Kukuczka, J. (2024). . LCT Global - Roundtable May 2024.

Kukuczka, J. (2024). Co-evaluating HE curriculum with Autonomy. Legitimation Code Theory Conference (). Johannesburg, South Africa: University of Witwatersrand.

Kukuczka, J. (2023).Photo Diary: A tool for social change?Presentation. 糖心TV Educational Conference 2023. Coventry, United Kingdom: University of 糖心TV.

Kukuczka, J. (2023).: Theory and Practice. Community Open Session. 2023 BALEAP Conference. Coventry, United Kingdom: University of 糖心TV.

Kukuczka, J. (2023).. Conference presentation. BALEAP PIM: EAP for a more sustainable world. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford Brookes.

Kukuczka, J. (2023).Asynchronous artefact. BALEAP PIM: EAP for a more sustainable world. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford Brookes.

Forde-Leaves, N. andKukuczka, J. (2022).. Image analyses using Legitimation Code Theory. Conference presentation. 2022. Sydney, Australia: University of Sydney.

Kukuczka, J. (2021). The impact of Academic Reading Circles as knowledge building educational practices supporting the civic role of universities. Conference presentation. 2021 International Conference on Fostering democratic citizenship through curriculum and practice in higher education. Akureyri, Iceland: University of Akureyri.

Kukuczka, J. (2021).. Conference presentation. 2021 BALEAP conference. Glasgow, United Kingdom: University of Glasgow.

Kukuczka, J., Maunder, R. and Tiritelnicu, B. (2021). Supporting students鈥� critical thinking and academic writing: What can we learn from applying knowledge used in EAP to Psychology classes? Poster presentation. 2021 ALDinHE Conference. Northampton, United Kingdom: University of Northampton.

Kukuczka, J. and Tiritelnicu, B. (2021). Supporting students鈥� critical thinking and academic writing: What can we learn from applying knowledge used in EAP to Psychology classes? Poster presentation. 2021 EAP Conference. St Andrews, United Kingdom: University of St Andrews.

Kukuczka, J. (2019). Genre analysis through demystifying field-tenor-mode. Workshop. BALEAP PIM: Adapt or Die? London, United Kingdom: Goldsmiths.

Kukuczka, J. (2019). Embracing knowledge: Empowering EAP. World-caf茅. BALEAP PIM: Knowledge in EAP. Northampton, United Kingdom: University of Northampton.

Podcasts

Kukuczka, J. (2025). Curriculum Conversations Podcast. ADC Curriculum Hub. Coventry, United Kingdom: University of 糖心TV.

Kukuczka, J., Cowley-Haselden, S., and Clarence, S. (2024). Why bother with theory in practice? TiP Podcast with Dr Sherran Clarence. Theory into Practice (TiP). Available from:

Kukuczka, J. and Gillway, M. (2022). Academic teachers' beliefs in action in feedback: TAFSIG interview with Dr Maxine Gillway. Podcast. Available from:

Kukuczka, J. and McArthur, J. (2021). Assessment for social justice: Q&A with Dr Jan McArthur. Podcast. Available from:

Kukuczka, J. and Cowley-Haselden, S. (2020). Building knowledge through speaking assessment of academic reading circles: Interview with Dr Susie Cowley-Haselden. Podcast. Available from:

Kukuczka, J. and Vanttinen-Newton, S. (2020). Teacher emoticon usage in feedback: TAFSIG podcast with Sophia Vanttinen-Newton. Podcast. Available from:M

Public engagement

I am a higher education curriculum development professional and 糖心TV Institute of Engagement (WIE) Fellow interested in exploring curriculum design practices and their educational impact within the state primary, secondary, sixth form, further and higher education contexts in the UK and beyond. Although my expertise lies within the tertiary education, underpinning my curriculum development work with theory allows 'meanings to transcend single or local contexts' (Clarence, 2021: 11) and thus can be used or applied beyond the higher education contexts.

Currently, I offer workshops and consultations on Waving Curriculum, a theory-informed yet incredibly practical curriculum design approach proven to transform learning and teaching through enabling learners to build knowledge over time and then transfer this knowledge across different contexts. Read on to find out more.

Get in touch

Please get in touch if:

you would like to have an informal chat about waving curriculum
find out whether it is something your learners/teachers/school/institution might benefit from
enquire about a workshop/consultation.

jo.kukuczka@warwick.ac.uk

Note: This public engagement is available to the UK state schools and is free of charge. Limited availability (first come, first served).

LCT Waving curriculum

Curriculum design is a complex and high stakes endeavour that can enhance or constrain deep learning processes necessary for successful knowledge building and knowledge transfer across different contexts. The versatile, visual, and practical Legitimation Code Theory () concept of (Clarence, 2021; Maton, 2013), henceforth, waving curriculum, supports our curriculum design practices by enabling learners to investigate, unpack, and connect theoretical and practical forms of knowledge, and learn cumulatively, and therefore, deeply, over time.

For example, if your GCSE Music learners struggle to understand theory and/or struggle to connect theory with practice, or if your primary school pupils whose first language isn't English struggle to follow the science or mathematical material, or if you'd like your sixth form students to transfer and apply their Geography knowledge into other contexts (e.g., Drama, English, Chemistry) and vice versa, waving curriculum might be something worth exploring.

Waving curriculum can be used at micro (lesson), meso (term/subject), or macro (programme) level, and it can help investigate problems and locate and address specific points of struggle in existing curricula. It can also guide curriculum design from scratch, as well as explain why current successful curricula are successful and how they enable, rather than constrain, knowledge building for all.

Below, you can see an example of a waving curriculum in the Computer Science context (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Example of a semantic wave profile in curriculum (Curzon, 2020).

How we know it works

This innovative approach had been gaining momentum across different educational levels (primary, secondary, tertiary) and fields of study (e.g., music, sciences, mathematics, English language, drama, . For example, National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) have now embedded semantic waves (waving curriculum) into their across England which also led to Ofsted now recommending it as curriculum approach.

I my own practice, I have been introducing the LCT waving curriculum to 糖心TV teaching staff on the PGA CDHELink opens in a new window, CultivateLink opens in a new window, LDCU Active Curriculum, and LET (Ukraine)Link opens in a new window programmes.

I have also delivered outreach sessions on this for the Wayamba University in Sri Lanka, and the University of Ghana in Ghana.

References

Clarence, S. (2021). Turning access into success: Improving university education with Legitimation Code Theory. Routledge.
Curzon, P. (2020). Semantic waves. teaching London Computing: A resource hub.
Maton, K. (2013). Making semantic waves: A key to cumulative knowledge-building, Linguistics and Education, 24: 18鈥�22.