Conference Agenda

Research with teachers and other practitioners suggests that they often encounter a moment of wobble—some occurrence in their practice that caused them to pause, to wonder, to question (Fecho, Graham, & Ross, 2006; Fecho, Coombs, & Stewart, 2024; Jansky, 2021). Much as a rope walker, unsteady and wobbling, rivets attention, so does wobble in one’s practice. The uncertainty about outcomes can invoke dread, but it can also present exciting possibilities. Wobble serves as a harbinger, an opportunity for reflection, that can lead to more substantive change through inquiry as a meaning making process.

When such moments occur, I invite teachers to take part in an Oral Inquiry Process (OIP), a protocol that honors the theoretical underpinnings of the Descriptive Review, a more complex protocol developed by Patricia Carini (Himley & Carini, 2000). Both protocols are designed to elicit multiple perspectives and support systematic and intentional reflection into practice. However, the OIP is more streamlined and facilitates not just external but also internal dialogue (Bakhtin, 1981; Hermans & Hermans-Konopka, 2010; Hermans, 2022). Practitioners share their wobble stories in small groups. Participants then respond to the stories through three questions: what I-positions did they identify in the story, what connections did they make to the story, and what issues were evoked by the story?

In the workshop, I invite participants—psychologists, counsellors, educators, therapists--to write a wobble story based on an occurrence in their practice, take part in small group OIP responses to those stories, and then reflect on the process. The intent is to usefully interrupt the comfortable but limiting routines of professional practice by dialoguing through the uncertainty and embracing possibility (Hermans, 2022).