I've flown as a student with instructors who were trained in the US, Canada and the UK.
BEagle - I suggest that complete cluelessness at being asked to trim for an attitude or explain how you were taught to do X, may be more of a terminology problem than a knowledge problem. For example, American pilots are taught to "trim for airspeed." In my admittedly limited sample (2 Brits and 2 Americans) the Brits put more emphasis on intellectually knowing what's going on, while the Americans put more emphasis on "just fly the plane, damnit." We Canadians, as always, come up the middle.
(Why did the Canadian cross the road?)
When I fly with a new instructor, whereever they are from, there is usually something they are surprised that I don't know AND something I've already learned from someone else, that I teach them.