#408 – Teaching Abroad: Exploring Schools in Other Countries, with Mathilde Landemaine

In this episode of Unpacking Education, we’re joined by international educator Mathilde Landemaine to explore the rich and varied experiences of teaching abroad. With a teaching journey that spans France, England, and Japan, Mathilde offers an insider’s look at how educational systems differ—and what that means for students and teachers alike.

Tune in for a fascinating conversation about curriculum design, student motivation, and classroom culture across continents. From project-based learning in international schools to the rigor of France’s baccalaureate exams, this episode invites you to reflect on what we can learn when we view education through a global lens.

We believe that the ability to embrace differences must become an essential element of a school’s educational excellence.

Olivier Brochet, former Director of the Agency for French Education Abroad, from the website of the International French High School in Tokyo (quote has been translated from French into English)

Resources

The following resources are available from AVID and on AVID Open Access to explore related topics in more depth:

• Views From Both the Classroom and District Leadership: Perspectives, Insights, and Understanding, with Ena Rasmussen (podcast episode)
• Develop Global Collaborators: Connect Your Students to Classrooms Around the World (article)
• Leverage Virtual Field Trips to Engage Students in Authentic Learning Experiences (article)
• Insights From a Small, Rural District, with Natasha Monsaas-Daly (podcast episode)

Gaining Perspective

When you step into a classroom halfway across the world, you gain perspective—and that’s exactly what Mathilde Landemaine brings to this episode. With firsthand experience teaching in France, England, and Japan, Mathilde shares how different educational systems shape expectations around curriculum, student engagement, and teacher autonomy. In France, for example, “students don’t expect lessons to be always fun,” she notes, pointing to cultural attitudes that influence classroom dynamics.

This conversation highlights how global experiences can challenge assumptions and deepen professional insight. Whether it’s the collaborative rigor of project-based learning in international schools or the standardized structure of national exams, each context reveals something unique about how young people learn. As Mathilde reflects, “There is good and bad in every system,” and through open dialogue and exchange, educators everywhere can grow. The following are a few highlights.

• About Our Guest: Mathilde Landemaine is an international teacher who has taught in Japan, England, and France. In 2000, she graduated in France as a French and classical literature teacher. She has taught students ages four to 17 years old over the course of her career and currently teaches in Japan at the International French High School in Tokyo.
• International School: Much of Mathilde’s career has been spent teaching French to students from multiple countries. In at least one of the international schools where she taught, there was a heavy emphasis on projects like end-of-year shows and theater performances, which differed from a traditional French school.
• Getting Started: When Mathilde began teaching in England, she says, “There was no proper introduction.” In fact, some of the staff assumed that she was a substitute, or “temporary,” teacher. Because she was still early in her career, she didn’t interact much with her colleagues.
• Flexibility: While French teachers must follow a course syllabus, Mathilde says, “We are very free as to what we teach.” She says that they can choose their own texts and teaching methods. In England, they were expected to follow a textbook and plan collaboratively. In Japan, Mathilde says, “They would teach only lessons that have been prepared together beforehand, so they would never do their own lessons.” Overall, France is the most flexible. In fact, Mathilde says, “We wouldn’t want to be told what to do.”
• Efficiency: Because French teachers have quite a bit of autonomy, Mathilde acknowledges that it’s not always the most efficient approach. She says, “We waste a lot of time because everybody does their own exams, does their own lessons.”
• National Exams: French students must take national exams at the end of middle school and then a national baccalaureate graduation exam at the end of high school. Mathilde says that it is common to create mock exams during the year, so students can practice. She adds that in England, she would prepare students for their “A levels, which is like the high school graduation exam” in France.
• Baccalaureate: These exams still carry quite significant weight in France. They help students get into better universities. She says, “Your baccalaureate is still something that people are proud of.”
• Choosing a Direction: Mathilde explains that in France, two years before the end of high school, students “have to choose if they want to go more into science, or economy, or literature.” After that, they take their exam.
• Science: In all of the countries where Mathilde has taught, “science is the main subject, and all the good students, whether they love science or not, they’re told to learn science and to choose science.” Science is seen as the best gateway to a good career and opens opportunities in nearly any field. Students from educated families have an advantage. Mathilde says, “It’s knowing the system in both countries that is important.”
• Fun: Mathilde points out that one difference between French schools and English schools is that in the French system, “Students don’t expect lessons to be always fun, and that’s a big difference. We accept the idea that the lesson can be boring or difficult.” In England, teachers employ more interactive activities and games to keep students engaged. Mathilde says, “The classroom environment in Japan is quite old-fashioned, and it’s more the teachers speaking, and the students listening, and a lot of learning by heart . . . so there’s more memorization.”
• The School Day: Mathilde says, “In France, teachers are only expected to be at school for their lessons, so that’s quite different from many countries, like in England, where you’re supposed to be there from 8:00 to 3:00 or 4:00.” In England, she had an office space where she could work and would often be assigned supervision duties when she wasn’t teaching a class. In France, she was more freed up to use her time as she wished. In fact, she says, “We don’t have specific offices, so we have a main staff room where we can work, but it’s not like everybody could work there, so we are expected to work at home.” She adds that in France, “My day can be very different according to how much I teach that day. So sometimes, I come in the afternoon only. Sometimes, I teach in the morning and in the evening, so I stay the whole day at school, teaching [and] marking. In the French system, the day is quite long, so we start at 8:00 in the morning, and last lesson finishes at 6:00 in the afternoon.”
• Holidays: Because their school days are so long in France, they schedule a lot of school holidays to compensate. Making their days even longer, students often have homework in the evenings, particularly in high school.
• Japanese School Days: In Japan, students might end class in the early afternoon, and most attend private exam preparation schools after that. Mathilde says, “Sometimes, you come back from the restaurants, and you see students still with their uniforms coming back from this school.” She says that these private schools are nearly mandatory for students who aim to attend a good university.
• Discovery Learning: Mathilde’s toolkit strategy is “when students learn without realizing it, going through different activities before knowing where we’re aiming to, and then they’re building the competence and the knowledge. And at the end, they [say], ‘Oh, that’s it.’” In a French lesson, this might mean starting with a problem and having students try to find a solution together.
• Learning From Each Other: Mathilde thinks that we should exchange more between countries. She says, “There is good and bad in every system,” and she believes we can learn from each other.