Teachers learn a lot about learning and teaching from dialogue with each other. Association for Science Education (ASE) meetings and other science conferences are ideal ways of coming into contact with other professionals to engage in dialogue. One special dimension of that contact is encountering overseas colleagues. Authors Brenda Keogh and Stuart Naylor have had the privilege of meeting and working with colleagues from various parts of the world, both here and in their own countries. This has helped to challenge and broaden their thinking and confirmed the value of sharing learning across borders. In this short article they provide a glimpse of what they have learned and what they think it means for teachers in the UK.