Karin Caffin
Karin Caffin was born in Germany but her family emigrated to Australia when she was seven years old. Growing up in times when cultural, religious and gender issues affected so many aspects of her life, she was determined to work in education where she knew that she could help make a difference and improve the lives of children.
Karin taught in elementary schools in South Australia before moving into administration and worked in both remote country schools and city schools. Her personal background led her to become involved in the development of state government policy in the areas of multiculturalism, child protection, anti-harassment and equal opportunities.
Karin and her Australian husband, Lindsay, adopted two boys from Thailand, one aged three and the other aged eight. In 1992 Karin moved with her family to Thailand to take up a teaching position in an international school. Karin soon became the elementary school (ES) principal of a large international school in Bangkok, and in 1997 the family moved to Osaka, Japan. For the next four years Karin was the ES principal of Osaka International School (OIS) and then became head of school in 2002.
OIS was established in 1991 and shares a campus with a private Japanese school that educates students from grade 7 through to grade 12. From grade 7 onwards the students from both schools come together for art, music and PE, which are taught by expatriate teachers with English as the language of instruction. In her time at OIS Karin has overseen the implementation of both the PYP and MYP curriculums, making OIS the first school in Japan to offer all three IB programmes.
Karin’s husband is now retired; her two boys aged 25 and 28 live and work in Australia.
In her spare time she likes to sail on the family catamaran, is involved with the MG car club, works in the garden, and likes to read, cook and travel.
Karin is a member of the IB compensation committee.
