A professional learning visit to Brisbane State High School highlights how international teacher exchanges can deepen pedagogy, strengthen cultural understanding and benefit both education systems.
For Australian schools, hosting international professional learning programs represents more than hospitality. It contributes to a wider regional ecosystem of educational collaboration, enabling knowledge to move in multiple directions and positioning education as a shared endeavour that extends beyond national borders.
In this context, the professional learning experiences of visiting Taiwanese teachers in Australia illustrate how cross-cultural engagement can strengthen both systems while enriching the international education community.
Such exchanges position classrooms as spaces for global dialogue, where educators observe, reflect and share ideas about how learning, culture and identity intersect across different national contexts.
In July 2025, a cohort of ten Taiwanese secondary school teachers travelled to Queensland for a two-week observational visit to Brisbane State High School (BSHS). The visit formed part of a professional development initiative organised by National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, Taiwan, led by Professors Regine Lin and Wenli Tsou.
The group was welcomed by BSHS Executive Principal Greg Pierce, together with Head of Languages Janet Schneider and a group of classroom teachers who acted as “buddy teachers” throughout the program. While classroom observation formed the core of the experience, the program was designed to encourage professional conversations, reflection and mutual exchange.
Rather than simply observing lessons, the visiting teachers engaged with colleagues, discussed teaching practices and reflected on how ideas might translate into their own classrooms. Follow-up interviews were later conducted with three of the participants: Ines, a music teacher and arts coordinator; MM, a physics and chemistry teacher; and Sarah, a science teacher working in a gifted education program. Their reflections provide insight into how international observation can prompt teachers to reconsider familiar practices and develop new professional perspectives.
Learning through observation and exchange
All three teachers described strong motivations for participating in the program. Ines wanted to observe different teaching approaches and explore ideas that could enrich arts education. MM saw the program as a rare opportunity for publicly funded international professional development. Sarah was motivated by the chance to broaden her professional horizons and connect with educators interested in innovative teaching.
Despite their different subject backgrounds, the teachers shared a sense that international learning offers valuable professional perspective. Each education system, they noted, reflects its own cultural and organisational context, and observing these differences can deepen teachers’ understanding of their own practice.
During their time at BSHS, the teachers observed a range of lessons across subject areas. Ines highlighted a Humanities lesson as particularly memorable. The teacher began with a single image and used it to guide students through a multi-layered inquiry process that encouraged critical thinking and cross-disciplinary discussion.
MM and Sarah also emphasised the value of observing everyday classroom routines and post-lesson discussions, which helped them interpret classroom events from different perspectives and strengthened their reflective practice.
Another theme that emerged from the interviews was the use of student-owned digital devices in Australian classrooms. At BSHS, laptops and tablets were frequently used for learning tasks, often with relatively limited direct monitoring by teachers.
For the visiting teachers, this level of student autonomy contrasted with classroom expectations in Taiwan, where teachers typically play a stronger role in monitoring behaviour and ensuring devices are used appropriately.
MM explained that Taiwanese classroom culture places greater emphasis on visible behavioural management. Ines noted that several factors could make it difficult to adopt similar bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approaches in Taiwan, including differences in students’ self-regulation skills, parental expectations around discipline, and concerns about screen time and eye health.
Sarah also suggested that greater autonomy in device use would require broader cultural adjustment before it could be implemented effectively. However, observing alternative classroom approaches prompted valuable reflection about how responsibility, independence and learner agency are understood across different education systems.
Teaching across cultures
Towards the end of the visit, the Taiwanese teachers moved from observation to active participation by planning and delivering a lesson to Australian students. This experience proved to be one of the most memorable aspects of the program.
Drawing on her science background, Sarah designed a lesson exploring environmental practices in Taiwan and Australia. Students compared waste management systems in both countries, examining how geography, population density and social habits influence approaches to recycling and waste reduction.
Australian students showed particular interest in Taiwan’s musical garbage trucks, detailed recycling categories and pay-as-you-throw waste policies. These examples sparked discussion about environmental responsibility and how public systems influence everyday behaviour.
For the visiting teachers, teaching in a different educational and cultural environment required them to adapt their approaches in real time. Across the group, they highlighted the importance of clear explanations, visual scaffolding, and real-world examples when teaching across linguistic and cultural boundaries.
The experience has already influenced their teaching back in Taiwan. Sarah has introduced more bilingual terminology into her science lessons and incorporated international examples, including Brisbane’s ferry system, to broaden students’ global awareness. Ines has diversified instructional approaches in her music program, while MM gained confidence from delivering a full lesson in English and has begun incorporating more multimodal materials into her teaching.
From an Australian perspective, programs such as the NCKU–BSHS partnership demonstrate how schools can contribute to the international education community. By opening classrooms, sharing practice and fostering professional relationships, schools can support regional collaboration while also enriching their own professional cultures.
Such initiatives do not require large-scale reforms. Instead, they build on existing strengths: a willingness to collaborate, openness to new ideas and the recognition that teaching practice can be strengthened through international dialogue. Partnerships like the one between NCKU and Brisbane State High School show how international professional learning can support educators to become globally aware, professionally enriched and better equipped to prepare students for an increasingly interconnected world.
About the authors:
Edward Lin is a Queensland secondary teacher specialising in physics and science education. His research interests include digital pedagogy, computerised physics simulations, phenomenological research, and teachers’ professional learning. He is currently undertaking a PhD at QUT examining teachers’ experiences of emergency online teaching.
Janet Schneider is Head of Languages at Brisbane State High School in Queensland, Australia. Her work focuses on strengthening language programs through curriculum innovation, international partnerships, and contemporary approaches to language learning. She is an active contributor to national language education discussions and regularly shares practice with language teachers across Australia.
