Leadership Spotlight | Head of School Andreas Koini

Andreas Koini knew from a very young age that he was destined to become a teacher. “I remember when I was 16, I was madly into sports and I started taking on young groups of students and coached them in athletics like gymnastics and volleyball from that age onwards,” Andreas said. Today, he is the Head of School at Antwerp International School. 

Andreas grew up in a small town in northern Austria and attended Technical University Vienna where he completed a double Hons. Masters’ in Education, Mathematics and Sports Science. He also holds a Master of Science, Finance, from Birkbeck College, University of London. 

“I went to university and studied sports but I was very interested in mathematics as well. So I actually studied mathematics and did a teaching degree at the University of Vienna and eventually became a teacher in an Austrian school,” he explains.

With three decades of teaching experience, including more than ten years as Head of School, his international career saw him hold teaching and senior leadership positions at a College for Architects and Engineering in Austria, as well as the German School London in the United Kingdom. He was the Founding Head of a new International Baccalaureate (IB) World School in Frankfurt, Germany offering all three levels of the IB Programme. 

Andreas remained there for about six years before he got the call from Antwerp. He’s now been at AIS for more than eight years and has never looked back. He explains what makes AIS so special to him: “I think it’s the feeling of community. You have to understand that we are not just a school. We take care of families right from the point of arrival until, very often, they depart from Antwerp. So that doesn’t mean that kids just come to school. We help the parents to find friends. We help the kids to integrate into our community. We provide activities after school, on the weekends and during holidays and friendships form here.”

Andreas has a personal educational philosophy that is based on holistic education. Education that gets students to become self-determined and take learning into their own hands. “Education isn’t just about transferring knowledge from teacher to student, but about forming a personality that includes all the values, attitudes and career ambitions so that when a student leaves AIS, they are prepared to contribute for the better of the world,” he shared.

For the last several years, Andreas and his team of educators have been thinking hard about what education should look like and they came up with a few big ideas. Andreas explained, “First, what is our mission? Yes, we want to educate, but it’s not just about education. It’s about inspiration and it’s about empowerment. So how do we do that at AIS? We think that our holistic education, the IB education that we apply from the Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme, up to the Diploma Programme really should lead to self-determined young adults. As part of that, we looked at ‘What does Antwerp stand for in terms of values and attitudes?’. We really believe that respect, sustainability, a caring community and commitment represent the values of our school very well.”    

Andreas joined AIS as the Head of School in 2015. He is a member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) Commission for International Education based in Boston and acts as chairperson for accreditation team visits all around the globe. “We have a constant interest and ambition to improve our school at all times and we all are constantly thinking about how we can do that. For me personally, that means I go out to accredit other schools worldwide. NEASC accredits schools worldwide and I’ve been invited to become a commissioner there. As part of my duties, I do accreditation visits. I see so many things that I like in other schools but some things I do not like and that provides a huge opportunity for our school as well. To bring in those good things and avoid the bad things that sometimes happen,” he explains.

In addition, Andreas is the chairperson of the Northwest European Council of International Schools (NECIS). “We Heads of Schools, the Principals and the Senior Managers meet on a regular basis. I’m quite proud that I’ve been elected to be the chairperson of NECIS. We are currently really trying to expand our programmes and go out beyond just sports and include academics like mathematics competitions, we have art collaborations and we are trying to expand it and are exploring that in the coming years,” Andreas said. “On top of that, we are a member of a big group of European schools who compete against each other in sports. That includes volleyball, basketball, swimming, cross country and all other athletics,” he shared. 

Andreas truly believes that education, and in particular international education, can be the major driving force in creating “…a better and more peaceful world…” (IB mission statement). His hope is that through his work he can contribute to this aspirational goal. 

Andreas is very excited about the biannual International Festival coming up in June at AIS. The celebration brings alumni together at AIS again. Andreas said, “It seems that everyone you talk to has fond memories of Antwerp International School. Be it parents, be it students or be it former teachers, they all come back. Every two years we have International Day at AIS and more than 1000 people are here, running around with tears in their eyes, saying what a great time they had here in Antwerp. I really understand that now. I’ve been here now for more than 8 years and you bond.” 

As you can imagine, Andreas is a keen sportsman who has represented his country at an internationally competitive level. He is married to Catherine and together with their three children Stefan, Hannah, William and their dog Lotty they enjoy exploring the beautiful countryside around their home in Kapellen, a suburb of Antwerp. Andreas concludes, “Antwerp is a kind of a hidden gem. People underestimate how lovely it is to live in Antwerp and what a great city of culture, sports and activities it is. The closeness to the beaches of the North Sea, and the closeness to nature are just excellent. Antwerp provides such a nice environment to bring up a family.” 

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