Based on the Exploratory Practice principles, I seek to understand why I was so happy teaching at Nexus, a Brazilian public school. My students’ written responses helped me understand, among other aspects, that I trust my students’ perceptions of me and of our relationship based on love, affection, and respect.
In this paper, I seek to reflect on my professional practice at Nexus School, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a hired teacher of Portuguese Language (from June 2017 to March 2019) in order to seek for understandings about the huge feeling of happiness that I feel for having taught in this place. Based on the principles of Exploratory Practice (ALLWRIGHT, 2001b, 2002; MILLER ET AL, 2008; ALLWRIGHT & HANKS, 2009) and its posture of critical reflection, as well as on the contributions of Freire (2001), Maturana (2002) and Mahn and Steiner (2002) about (self)reflection, love and gift of confidence, respectively, I start my search for understandings from the puzzle “Why I am so happy to teach at Nexus School?”. 57 of my students from two 6th grade classes and two 7th grade classes answered, in writing, five questions, which were optional and in which they could identify themselves or not, in the last week of December 2018. From the analysis of these answers, I came to several understandings related to the reasons for my happiness; some of them being: (i) my students consider me a fun person although I don't see myself like this, but I trust their perception of me; (ii) my students demonstrate their ability to take their learning, their classes, their activities, and school seriously by demanding from me more rigidity about classroom discipline; and (iii) my students’ responses emphasized the good relationship we established and developed during the 2018 school year, based on love, affection, respect and trust. Keywords: Happiness; Exploratory Practice; teaching practice
