Permeating nuances of the areas of language teaching-learning and of initial and continuing teacher education (Hanks, 2017; Miller; Cunha; Allwright, 2020; Rio de Janeiro Exploratory Practice Group, 2021), Exploratory Practice has also carried out researches in partnerships that include students with teachers, peer teachers, teachers with coordinators, among others (Côrtes, 2017; Maciel, 2021; Nunes, 2022).
Such theoretical and methodological insertions have motivated us to seek for new understandings about where Exploratory Practice studies come from and to which directions they go in teaching, research and teacher education. As exploratory practitioners ourselves, we conducted researches permeated by stories (Bastos; Biar, 2015), which we analyzed with the framework of narrative studies (De Fina, 2015).
Having dialogued with teachers-researchers about what Exploratory Practice represents to their practices and having investigated with (school) student-practitioners the effects of more inclusive school practices, we analyzed such data through an interpretive paradigm within qualitative research in Social Sciences. Also, we support our reflections with Contemporary Applied Linguistics (Moita Lopes, 2006), which permits us to look at discourse as a social practice with ethical dimensions.
As a result, it was possible to understand that Exploratory Practice has shown itself to be a promising path for more ethical (school and) research practices. Critical and sensitive to the context and to the emotions of the people involved in it, Exploratory Practice has proven itself to be an open and safe space for a multitude of questions, which are asked and investigated in increasingly more collaborative ways.
Bibliography
Bastos, L. C.; Biar, L. A. (2015). Análise de narrativa e práticas de entendimento da vida social. D.E.L.T.A., 31-especial, p. 97-126.
Côrtes, T. C. R. (2017). "Eu acho que só seguro a onda por causa do afeto": A Linguística Aplicada e as percepções do sofrimento de um grupo de professores da rede privada de ensino. Dissertação de mestrado – Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Departamento de Letras, 154 f.
De Fina, A. Narrative and identities. (2015). De Fina, A.; Georgakopoulou, A. (Eds.). The handbook of narrative analysis. John Wiley & Sons, p. 351-368.
Hanks, J. (2017). Exploratory Practice in language teaching: puzzling about principles and practices. Palgrave Macmillan.
Maciel, B. S. A. (2021). Quando "todo mundo aprende com todo mundo": nos encontros, oportunidades de formação mútua. Tese de Doutorado. Rio de Janeiro: Departamento de Letras, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, 260 f.
Miller, I. K.; Cunha, M. I. A.; Allwright, D. (2020) Teachers as practitioners of learning: the lens of Exploratory Practice. Educational Action Research, n. p.
Moita Lopes, L. P. (2006). Por uma linguística aplicada indisciplinar. São Paulo: Parábola Editorial.
Nunes, D. F. C. (2022). De onde viemos, para onde iremos: conversas sobre a Prática Exploratória e sua ecologia de saberes. Tese de Doutorado. Rio de Janeiro: Departamento de Letras, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, 149 f.
Rio de Janeiro Exploratory Practice Group. (2021). Why seek to understand life in the classroom? Experiences of the Exploratory Practice group.
