European mobility: professional trips for teachers are all the rage!
Discovering another European education system, meeting other teachers and learning about new practices – these are among the benefits that the professional trips programme offers to French secondary school teachers. Eighty-eight teachers were able to participate in this programme, spearheaded by France Éducation international, throughout the 2022-2023 academic year.
The number of registered participants has doubled since the 2022-2023 academic year, with more than 400 teachers having registered online for a professional trip in 2023-2024. This increase demonstrates teachers’ interest in short trips and in discovering different education systems. The scheme gives participants the opportunity to discover new teaching practices, and facilitates the organisation of inter-school partnerships.
Exchanges on a European scale
The registration procedure is simple: simply fill in the form on the dedicated platform during the application period that opens each year between October and May. A lump-sum allowance of 600 euros is paid to participants by France Éducation international to help finance the 15-day trip to one of the seven European countries on offer (Germany, Austria, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom).
It is also possible to host a European colleague in a French school, enabling the schools hosting these teachers to make this programme part of their internationalisation strategy to encourage twinning and school exchanges.
A programme that encourages discovery and sharing
Sonia, a Spanish language teacher at a secondary school in the Bordeaux educational authority, spent two weeks working at the Instituto de Educación Secundaria Mateo Hernández1 in Salamanca, Spain, in April 2023.
During her stay, she was able to attend various courses with classes ranging from 1°ESO to 2° Bachillerato, corresponding to the first and last years of secondary school.
"Through this unique experience, I was able to deepen my knowledge of the Spanish school system and, above all, become aware of the importance of the role of the autonomous communities (regions) in the directives issued to the various schools."
According to Sonia, this scheme offers a real opportunity for anyone wanting to find out how education systems work in other European countries: "Beyond the professional adventure, it's a total immersion that plunges us into the heart of a country, its culture and its language. As a Spanish teacher, I've absorbed everything I've experienced, and now it's up to me to try and pass it on to my students."
[1] Mateo Hernández Secondary Education Institute