Teachers' knowledge and how they construct it is an area that deserves attention when it comes to producing fruitful professional development practices. This small-scale action research aims at identifying the perceptions of three teachers in a private language center about peer-coaching and their actual construction of knowledge in a peer-coaching activity. Data were collected through two narratives and the transcription of recorded conversations among participants after the observation of their classes. The results suggest that before peer-coaching teachers held three types of perceptions towards observation and feedback: a cautious approach, an identity tension approach, and a celebratory approach. After peer-coaching one sees that two perceptions emerged: observation and feedback entail, on the one hand, high anxiety about teachers' selfimage; and on the other, observation and feedback show a deep sense of their selves.Key words: Peer-coaching, professional development, self, teacher knowledge.El conocimiento de los profesores y cómo ellos lo construyen es un área que merece atención cuando se desea producir prácticas de desarrollo profesional fructíferas. La investigación-acción a pe- Exploring English Teachers' Perceptions About Peer-Coaching as a Professional Development Activity of Knowledge Construction queña escala reportada aquí tiene como objetivo mostrar las percepciones de tres profesores en un centro de idiomas privado acerca de la asesoría entre pares y el conocimiento construido por los participantes en este este ejercicio. Los datos se recolectaron a través de dos narrativas y la transcripción de la grabación de interacciones de los profesores después de la observación de clase. Los datos sugieren que antes de la asesoría entre pares los profesores tenían tres percepciones acerca de la observación y la retroalimentación: una percepción de enfoque cauteloso, otra de enfoque de tensión identitaria y una celebratoria de la observación y la retroalimentación. Después de participar en la asesoría entre pares dos percepciones emergieron: la observación y la retroalimentación implican por un lado ansiedad acerca de la auto-imagen del profesor, por otro lado, representan un profundo sentido de su yo.Palabras clave: asesoría entre pares, conocimiento docente, desarrollo profesional.

In the following literature review, I set out to show an analysis of the main developments regarding the study of in-service English teachers’ (IELTs) knowledge. In the first part, I trace scholarly work regarding the topic at the national and international levels. I bring up both poststructuralist and decolonial perspectives to problematize the concept of teacher knowledge base (Shulman 1987, 2005). By means of research profiling and data base search, articles and trends related to the issue of teachers’ knowledge were found. The analysis suggests that there are two core trends in the study of English teachers’ knowledge in Colombian publications. The first shows that there are studies which revolve around backing up the concept of knowledge base. The second one shows that few studies take up a different perspective towards the study of English teachers’ knowledge.

There has been a continuing interest in defining what comprises English teachers’ knowledge with the purpose of defining the boundaries of the English Teaching field and developing it as a respected discipline in education (Richards, 1990). The objective of this paper, shaped by the tenets of the Decolonial Turn, is to share some of the results of studying teachers’ knowledge with a view of knowledge described by Anzaldúa (2000) as “an overarching theory of consciousness… that tries to encompass all the dimensions of life, both inner –mental, emotional, instinctive, imaginal, spiritual, bodily realms—and outer—social, political, lived experiences.” (p. 177). Data were gathered by means of testimonial narratives, and their analysis followed some guidelines of Benmayor’s (2012) framework of testimonial narratives writing and communal analysis. The study is also inspired by and grounded on the Epistemologies of the South (Sousa Santos, 2004, 2006, 2016, 2018) to think of knowledge beyond the cognitive experiences of teachers. Some of the results show that teachers’ knowledge is something experienced by them not only in their cognition but also in their emotions and body. Not only do teachers rely on content, pedagogical or methodological knowledge, but also on emotion, as evidenced in a sample of teachers’ testimonial narratives.

<p><em>This paper sets out to recount my journey in order to become a critical pedagogue in the field of English language teaching. I talk about core experiences as a student, teacher, and human being. I rely in tenets of critical pedagogy, Chicana studies and decolonial thought in order to find a voice of my own in the academic arena. I contend that writing our own testimonies towards transformation brings out little but significant changes in the way we exist in the world as teachers. Readers will encounter a reflection of my approach towards pedagogy and knowledge enriched with students’ own ideas and outcomes. </em></p>

This editorial article reflects on the paradigmatic changes that the Colombian ELT community has recently experienced due to the developments of local scholarship in varied topics. This editorial article makes the changes evident by introducing the papers for this special issue of HOW journal on its 30th anniversary. These include topics as interculturality, literacy, English language pre-service teacher construction and professional development, critical views about bilingual education policy, and the interrelation between gender and ELT. The local scholarship development in these topics displays a rupture with the ELT canon. By so doing, the Colombian ELT scholarship shows a potency that wields foundations for the ELT field in the country.