Dr Stephen Codrington
Although Stephen is widely known for his career as the Head of five schools in four countries over 25 years, he is internationally recognised as the author of some 59 books, mainly textbooks for Geography. His book, Planet Geography, was recently expanded into a set of 10 books to support the new International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Geography syllabus. These books are profusely illustrated with thousands of Stephen’s own photos, reflecting his keen hobby of photography, many of which were taken on his travels through 141 countries.
Planet Geography was the first textbook written especially for IB Geography, and it is currently being used in 92 countries. Details of the book can be seen at www.planetgeographybooks.com. Another recent book, Optimal School Governance, is a ground-breaking practical handbook for members of school boards on effective governance, and the book supports Stephen’s work with school boards around the world. Details of this book can be seen at optimalschool.com/Core/The_Book.html. He has extensive experience supporting school boards to improve their governance performance as well as enhancing the quality of school leadership, management and pedagogy.
Stephen’s academic backgrounds are Geography, Economics and Philosophy, and he is a former President of both the Geographical Society of New South Wales and the Geography Teachers' Association of New South Wales (twice). He is currently treasurer of the Geographical Society of New South Wales. He has led several successful geographical study tours to such diverse destinations as China, Myanmar, Russia, Estonia, Uzbekistan, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia (Irian Jaya), Thailand and North Korea. In 2005, he led a delegation of the first foreign students ever to visit North Korea - the first of nine trips he has now undertaken to that little-known and isolated country. In 2014, he accepted a part-time role teaching Geography at the Australian Catholic University, specialising in the fields of Environmental Sustainability and the Human Geography of Globalisation.
He has been honored with election as a Fellow of the Australian College of Education, the Royal Geographical Society (UK), the International Biographical Association, and the Geographical Society of NSW, as well as being elected a Member of the Order of International Fellowship. He is a former Chairman of H.I.C.E.S. (Heads of Independent Co-educational Schools) and a former Vice-President of A.E.C.S. (the Association of Executives of Christian Schools).
He edited Geography Bulletin, the journal of the Geography Teachers' Association of New South Wales from 1980 to 1986. He has been listed in Who’s Who in Australia every year since 2003.
From 1996 to 2001 he served as Deputy Chief Examiner in Geography for the International Baccalaureate (I.B.), setting examination papers for the I.B. and assisting with curriculum development. During his terms as Deputy Chief Examiner, he led many teachers' workshops in places such as Melbourne, Guangzhou, Singapore, Brisbane, Auckland, Adelaide, Hong Kong and Mumbai. In 2014, Stephen was appointed an IB Ambassador.
Stephen began his teaching career in 1977, and quickly advanced to the role of Departmental Chair of Geography at St Ignatius College, Riverview, a prestigious Jesuit boys’ school in Sydney, Australia. During his 12 years at Riverview, he undertook a one year teaching exchange at Stonyhurst College, another Jesuit school (in Lancashire, UK).
Stephen began his first headship at the age of just 35 when he accepted the invitation to become Principal at St Paul's Grammar School in Penrith (Sydney, Australia), commencing in January 1989. Stephen served at St Paul’s for eight years before he moved to New Zealand to take on the newly established role of Chief Executive at Kristin School in Auckland, New Zealand. Stephen returned to Australia three years later in January 2000 to serve as Headmaster at Prince Alfred College, one of the two grand, old, well-established boys’ schools in Adelaide (Australia). He worked in that role for five years before moving to Hong Kong to serve as Head of Li Po Chun United World College, a fully residential international school with students from over 80 countries where Stephen worked for seven years (from 2004 to 2011).
Stephen’s career as a Head of Schools arguably reached its peak when he worked as Head of The Awty International School in Houston, Texas, a complex school with more than 1500 students from about 60 countries, aged 3 to 18. With two sections, three schools and dual strands leading to the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the French Baccalauréat, Awty became both the largest international school in the US and the largest independent school in Houston during the period of Stephen’s leadership.
Details of Stephen’s achievements as an educational leader can be seen on his LinkedIn profile here.
Throughout his time as a Head of School, Stephen chose to continue working as a classroom teacher of Geography and Theory of Knowledge, thus establishing a reputation for having a detailed working knowledge of classroom teachers’ everyday needs, excellent relationships with students, an up-to-date understanding of curriculum and a deep appreciation of the diversity within international education. In each of the schools where he has worked, Stephen has thus been instrumental in implementing effective, positive - and often difficult - reforms as a change manager.
Stephen has a passionate interest in the geography, politics and culture of China. This interest has been expressed through his research and writings, and through some 80 visits there since 1982. From 1993 to 1995 he successfully negotiated to establish the first school in China since 1949 permitted to teach secondary students a course other than the government's national curriculum. This co-operative venture school (The Light of the World International School in Harbin) opened in March 1996, but sadly closed several years later. His interest in China continues, and in 2012 he established a sister school relationship between The Awty International School in Houston and Datong High School in Shanghai.
Following his remarkable career as an international educator, Stephen returned to his home country of Australia in 2013 to establish a focussed consultancy in school board effectiveness called Optimal School Governance. Stephen is thus helping school boards in all parts of the world to improve the effectiveness of their governance processes, strategies and operations. See here for more details.
Stephen has worked intensively in the area of best practice and change management in schools, and he has spoken widely on aspects of the subject in venues as diverse as Taipei, Geneva, Shanghai, Paris, Freiburg, Washington DC, Adelaide, Bangkok and Invercargill.
Stephen has a strong commitment to excellence and internationalism in education. Echoing Aristotle, he believes “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit”. When working in Hong Kong, he established GCAT (the Global Concerns Action Team) in which he worked shoulder-to-shoulder with students to engage in many cutting edge service activities such as building the first toilets in a remote lepers’ village in the Himalayas and building three medical clinics in poor rural areas of Guizhou province, China. He believes that students should be encouraged to stretch themselves beyond their comfort zones in every area of their formation, and to go forth into the world as responsible, ethical and compassionate young men and women, committed to putting into practice the ideals of peace, internationalism, justice and excellence in all things.
Planet Geography was the first textbook written especially for IB Geography, and it is currently being used in 92 countries. Details of the book can be seen at www.planetgeographybooks.com. Another recent book, Optimal School Governance, is a ground-breaking practical handbook for members of school boards on effective governance, and the book supports Stephen’s work with school boards around the world. Details of this book can be seen at optimalschool.com/Core/The_Book.html. He has extensive experience supporting school boards to improve their governance performance as well as enhancing the quality of school leadership, management and pedagogy.
Stephen’s academic backgrounds are Geography, Economics and Philosophy, and he is a former President of both the Geographical Society of New South Wales and the Geography Teachers' Association of New South Wales (twice). He is currently treasurer of the Geographical Society of New South Wales. He has led several successful geographical study tours to such diverse destinations as China, Myanmar, Russia, Estonia, Uzbekistan, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia (Irian Jaya), Thailand and North Korea. In 2005, he led a delegation of the first foreign students ever to visit North Korea - the first of nine trips he has now undertaken to that little-known and isolated country. In 2014, he accepted a part-time role teaching Geography at the Australian Catholic University, specialising in the fields of Environmental Sustainability and the Human Geography of Globalisation.
He has been honored with election as a Fellow of the Australian College of Education, the Royal Geographical Society (UK), the International Biographical Association, and the Geographical Society of NSW, as well as being elected a Member of the Order of International Fellowship. He is a former Chairman of H.I.C.E.S. (Heads of Independent Co-educational Schools) and a former Vice-President of A.E.C.S. (the Association of Executives of Christian Schools).
He edited Geography Bulletin, the journal of the Geography Teachers' Association of New South Wales from 1980 to 1986. He has been listed in Who’s Who in Australia every year since 2003.
From 1996 to 2001 he served as Deputy Chief Examiner in Geography for the International Baccalaureate (I.B.), setting examination papers for the I.B. and assisting with curriculum development. During his terms as Deputy Chief Examiner, he led many teachers' workshops in places such as Melbourne, Guangzhou, Singapore, Brisbane, Auckland, Adelaide, Hong Kong and Mumbai. In 2014, Stephen was appointed an IB Ambassador.
Stephen began his teaching career in 1977, and quickly advanced to the role of Departmental Chair of Geography at St Ignatius College, Riverview, a prestigious Jesuit boys’ school in Sydney, Australia. During his 12 years at Riverview, he undertook a one year teaching exchange at Stonyhurst College, another Jesuit school (in Lancashire, UK).
Stephen began his first headship at the age of just 35 when he accepted the invitation to become Principal at St Paul's Grammar School in Penrith (Sydney, Australia), commencing in January 1989. Stephen served at St Paul’s for eight years before he moved to New Zealand to take on the newly established role of Chief Executive at Kristin School in Auckland, New Zealand. Stephen returned to Australia three years later in January 2000 to serve as Headmaster at Prince Alfred College, one of the two grand, old, well-established boys’ schools in Adelaide (Australia). He worked in that role for five years before moving to Hong Kong to serve as Head of Li Po Chun United World College, a fully residential international school with students from over 80 countries where Stephen worked for seven years (from 2004 to 2011).
Stephen’s career as a Head of Schools arguably reached its peak when he worked as Head of The Awty International School in Houston, Texas, a complex school with more than 1500 students from about 60 countries, aged 3 to 18. With two sections, three schools and dual strands leading to the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the French Baccalauréat, Awty became both the largest international school in the US and the largest independent school in Houston during the period of Stephen’s leadership.
Details of Stephen’s achievements as an educational leader can be seen on his LinkedIn profile here.
Throughout his time as a Head of School, Stephen chose to continue working as a classroom teacher of Geography and Theory of Knowledge, thus establishing a reputation for having a detailed working knowledge of classroom teachers’ everyday needs, excellent relationships with students, an up-to-date understanding of curriculum and a deep appreciation of the diversity within international education. In each of the schools where he has worked, Stephen has thus been instrumental in implementing effective, positive - and often difficult - reforms as a change manager.
Stephen has a passionate interest in the geography, politics and culture of China. This interest has been expressed through his research and writings, and through some 80 visits there since 1982. From 1993 to 1995 he successfully negotiated to establish the first school in China since 1949 permitted to teach secondary students a course other than the government's national curriculum. This co-operative venture school (The Light of the World International School in Harbin) opened in March 1996, but sadly closed several years later. His interest in China continues, and in 2012 he established a sister school relationship between The Awty International School in Houston and Datong High School in Shanghai.
Following his remarkable career as an international educator, Stephen returned to his home country of Australia in 2013 to establish a focussed consultancy in school board effectiveness called Optimal School Governance. Stephen is thus helping school boards in all parts of the world to improve the effectiveness of their governance processes, strategies and operations. See here for more details.
Stephen has worked intensively in the area of best practice and change management in schools, and he has spoken widely on aspects of the subject in venues as diverse as Taipei, Geneva, Shanghai, Paris, Freiburg, Washington DC, Adelaide, Bangkok and Invercargill.
Stephen has a strong commitment to excellence and internationalism in education. Echoing Aristotle, he believes “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit”. When working in Hong Kong, he established GCAT (the Global Concerns Action Team) in which he worked shoulder-to-shoulder with students to engage in many cutting edge service activities such as building the first toilets in a remote lepers’ village in the Himalayas and building three medical clinics in poor rural areas of Guizhou province, China. He believes that students should be encouraged to stretch themselves beyond their comfort zones in every area of their formation, and to go forth into the world as responsible, ethical and compassionate young men and women, committed to putting into practice the ideals of peace, internationalism, justice and excellence in all things.