Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers

Abstract

This article delves into the potential of decolonial pedagogies�specifically interpreted here as simultaneously engaged in the domains of narrative research and teacher education�for the (re) construction of epistemological and methodological practices with high performative force, i.e. productive in the redefinition of social meanings and the redistribution of discursive legitimacy (Yedaide, 2017). It discusses the concurrence of several perspectives which have stemmed from a particular context of teaching and researching and seem to contribute to civic (re) empowerment as well as to enabling conditions of greater hospitality for social life. Such viewpoints, which make complete sense only in the blended and highly impure territory of our Global South, attempt to methodically escape from absolutes (great or master narratives) and to appeal to emotions, feelings and aesthetics as a necessary means to approaching any human experience. We thus commit to the discussion of a few premises�tentative, local and contingent narratives�which have provided heuristic depth to our social and pedagogical concerns. Hopefully, such intent will portray a willingness to move away from servile respect to modern/colonial structures and plunge into the undefined, unstable and ever changing scenario of life experiences.