Exploratory Practice: A way forward to getting the students back in the modern foreign language classroom

Abstract

This chapter tells the story of our experiences of starting Exploratory Practice (EP) in a new and vibrant setting (Professional Development in Turkey and Northern Cyprus). We explore in-service language teacher education with the introduction of EP as an inquiry-based tool for professional development. Engaging teachers as learners of 'doing-being' research can be a catalyst for developing from a focus on practitioners as passive recipients of knowledge to active generators of understandings and knowledge. However, this shift poses epistemological challenges for teachers who do not yet have or are still developing a researcher identity. Together with teachers, teacher educators and curriculum developers, we work to understand the complexities of our various educational contexts.